Chennai,Ā Oct 30:
Federation of Tamil Nadu Auto and Call Taxi Drivers’ Associations has thanked the State government for revising auto-rickshaw meter fares after a gap of 14 years.
Its general secretary, Vetrivel, said drivers would implement the revised fares as a service to the public and would not collect even a rupee more than the prescribed rates.
Addressing reporters at the Secretariat, Vetrivel said the government revised the fares on October 27 after holding discussions with various stakeholders. He thanked the Chief Minister and the Minister concerned for taking the decision, pointing out that repeated protests during the previous regime had failed to secure a revision.
He said around 2.5 lakh autorickshaws were operating in Chennai alone and sought adequate time to recalibrate all meters to reflect the revised fares. At present, meters in around 200 to 250 autorickshaws are being updated every day at each Regional Transport Office (RTO). The new fare structure would be fully implemented once all meters are recalibrated, he added.
Vetrivel also urged the government to ensure that app-based aggregators such as Ola, Uber and Rapido strictly follow the revised auto fare structure.