Coimbatore auto unions to revise own meter fare from New Year

The auto unions have arbitrarily come out with their own rate card for the implementation of the new fares. They claim that the meter fare charge fixed by the state government isn’t feasible to follow due to increasing cost of fuel and maintenance.

“Printing of the new rate card is under way and it will be distributed among the auto drivers. The rate cards will be displayed in the autos and passengers can pay based on this fare from January 1,” said PK Sugumaran, general secretary of the Coimbatore District Auto Workers Union.

While the government has fixed Rs 25 as the fare for first 1.8 km and Rs 12 for every kilometre in Chennai, the auto unions here have decided to fix the minimum as Rs 30 for 1.5 km and Rs 15 for every additional kilometre. The passengers will be charged double the amount during night time from 10 pm to 5 am.

The auto drivers have arrived at this decision to survive the threat from corporate run autos and taxis. “As it is impossible to follow the government introduced meter fare charges, the auto drivers seek different fares from customers. It made the public to opt for corporate run autos, which led to regular autos witnessing a sharp dip in passenger patronage. Most of the autos are now running empty due to lack of business,” said Sugumaran.

Of the 15,000 autos running in Coimbatore, about 12,500 autos ply in the city limits alone. On the other hand, from just in a few numbers, the app based auto has grown significantly by over 6,000 in the recent months.

“We are confident that the auto drivers will adhere to the new rate card as they don’t want passengers to shy away from autos for other modes of transport,” he said.The auto unions have also announced of their decision to introduce their own fare system to officials in the transport department and cops.

However, the transport department officials have warned against arbitrary fixing of auto fares by some unions.

“Only the government should fix the fare and individuals cannot do so arbitrarily. We are provisioned to initiate action against the auto drivers, if they are running autos by fixing the fare on their own,” said an official.