While the cabinet ministers of Delhi government and the bureaucrats have been barred from using beacons on their vehicles, the Aam Aadmi Party government has proposed to put them on auto rickshaws. In its new policy, the Delhi government is perhaps trying to reward the contribution of auto-drivers for their support to the Aam Aadmi Party during its struggle.
‘There will be two bulbs in the beacon. If the auto is occupied, the beacon will glow red so that commuters know it will not stop for them. If the beacon turns green, it indicates that it is for hire,’ said a senior transport officer. The beacons will cost around Rs 100 to Rs 150 each. The meeting, according to sources, was attended by the transport minister besides senior officers of transport, traffic, auto unions and experts in road safety, traffic and transport management.
Another proposal is to provide free insurance cover to auto-drivers from the pool of Rs 50 lakh lying with the Delhi traffic police from non-reimbursed pre-paid bills. ‘This is the money traffic police did not reimburse to the pre-paid auto-drivers for variety of reasons since 1985, when the service of pre-paid was started in the city,’ said the officer. ‘Sometimes a slip is lost or an auto-driver meets with an accident or leaves the city. In the absence of the slip the traffic police doesn’t reimburse,’ said Firoz, an auto-driver revealing how this amount has been collected by Delhi traffic police.
Special Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Taj Hassan said, ‘The labour department of Delhi government is finalising the modalities to provide insurance cover to these auto-drivers. We will see how we can contribute the maximum.’ He added the project was at a nascent stage.
The transport department has directed the traffic police to practice leniency while prosecuting auto-drivers for ‘refusal to take passengers’. Currently, a fine of Rs 7000 can be imposed on an auto-driver besides impounding his vehicle if he refuses to ferry any passengers. The transport department has given up the idea to take over prosecution of auto-drivers due to lack of adequate staff but will put strict conditions on traffic police so that auto-drivers are not harassed.
‘There will be two bulbs in the beacon. If the auto is occupied, the beacon will glow red so that commuters know it will not stop for them. If the beacon turns green, it indicates that it is for hire,’ said a senior transport officer. The beacons will cost around Rs 100 to Rs 150 each. The meeting, according to sources, was attended by the transport minister besides senior officers of transport, traffic, auto unions and experts in road safety, traffic and transport management.
Another proposal is to provide free insurance cover to auto-drivers from the pool of Rs 50 lakh lying with the Delhi traffic police from non-reimbursed pre-paid bills. ‘This is the money traffic police did not reimburse to the pre-paid auto-drivers for variety of reasons since 1985, when the service of pre-paid was started in the city,’ said the officer. ‘Sometimes a slip is lost or an auto-driver meets with an accident or leaves the city. In the absence of the slip the traffic police doesn’t reimburse,’ said Firoz, an auto-driver revealing how this amount has been collected by Delhi traffic police.
Special Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Taj Hassan said, ‘The labour department of Delhi government is finalising the modalities to provide insurance cover to these auto-drivers. We will see how we can contribute the maximum.’ He added the project was at a nascent stage.
The transport department has directed the traffic police to practice leniency while prosecuting auto-drivers for ‘refusal to take passengers’. Currently, a fine of Rs 7000 can be imposed on an auto-driver besides impounding his vehicle if he refuses to ferry any passengers. The transport department has given up the idea to take over prosecution of auto-drivers due to lack of adequate staff but will put strict conditions on traffic police so that auto-drivers are not harassed.