Katpadi pre-paid auto shuts after drivers’ row

Railway sources said, the service was run by a contractor chosen by the Southern Railway, which had set up a booth in front of the station entrance. The rates for the pre-paid auto service were fixed based on calculations by the Vellore Regional Transport Office (RTO).

The facility was a necessity because of the high number of footfalls at the station. The Katpadi railway station handles an average of 120 trains in both the directions. Moreover, the pre-paid service was aimed at preventing visitors from being fleeced by auto drivers.

Katpadi station manager K Ravindranath said, “The rate list put up at the booth proved to be an effective solution to the fleecing menace. As per the rates fixe by the RTO, Rs 25 was the fare to the Chittoor bus stop, Rs 34 to reach Auxilium College, Rs 51 to go to the Silk Mill bus stop, Rs 61 for Vidudampattu, Rs 70 for Green Circle, Rs 78 to reach CMC bus stop, Rs 99 for the old bus stand, Rs 100 to reach the Vellore corporation office, Rs 106 for Voorhees College, Rs 115 for Lakshmi Theatre, Rs 120 for toll gate, Rs 123 for Anna Nagar, Rs 135 for Thorapadi, Rs 163 for Ariyur and Rs 199 to reach Sripuram golden temple.”

The rate list covered the entire town, as compared to the earlier situation, where autos would charge Rs 200 to reach CMC hospital, a location close to the railway station.

Visitors would register at the prepaid booth and get a receipt, board the auto and pay at end of the journey. “Of the amount paid, the driver would hand over Rs 3 to the contractor, who in turn would hand over 81% of that to the railways,” officials added.

However, trouble was simmering between pre-paid and non-pre-paid auto drivers as the latter were not allowed to enter the station premises to pick up passengers after the opening of the prepaid booth. The dispute between the drivers from both the groups resulted in a scuffle on Wednesday night, following which the contractor shut the booth down.

Ravindranath said, “The affected auto drivers have gone to meet the senior divisional commercial manager at Chennai and we have also sent a report. As opening the booth was a policy matter, railways will cancel the contractor and issue fresh tenders to reopen the booth while settling issues, if any.”

Social activist K Sathyamurthy, who supported the move of railways in opening the booth, said, “The railways should reopen the booth for the benefit of help passengers. Else, the latter would suffer.”