Govt to cancel 10,491 permits
Even as the transport department of the Delhi government has announced that it will cancel the permits of 10,491 autorickshaws as they have failed to get the smart card-based permit issued despite repeated reminders and extension of deadlines, the autorickshaw unions maintained on Sunday that they were unaware of any such order. They further alleged that the autorickshaw drivers, whose vehicles were not registered in their names, were not being issued the smart card-based permits.
An autorickshaw union leader claimed that if this move was implemented, the autorickshaw drivers would go on strike.
The transport department had, however, issued notifications regarding cancellation of permits in the newspapers on Saturday, clearly stating that 10,491 autorickshaws have still not got their new permits issued even though the deadline was extended at least three times during the year.
But various autorickshaw unions said they were ignorant about any such order. The president of an autorickshaw union said that whatever they were hearing in this regard was from the media. “We have not heard anything from the Delhi transport commissioner. But it is unfair on the part of the government to cancel the permits,” said Suresh Sharma of Rashtravadi Janta Tipahiya Chalak Mahasangh.
The union leader alleged that the government was not issuing smart card-based permits to those auto drivers whose vehicles were registered in someone else’ name. The drivers are facing problems, as the permit has been issued in the name of someone from whom they had bought the autos. He added that a request to transfer the permit in the name of the driver and then issue the smart card-based permit has fallen on deaf ears.
On the other hand, the transport department has been saying that not all the estimated 55,000 autorickshaws are properly registered with it. It also wanted to ensure that the norm of one person not owning more than one autorickshaw is properly followed and that was why the smart card-based permits were issued.
While the government has earlier acceded to their request for a fare hike, the autorickshaw drivers had not paid heed to the directions for getting GPS installed in their vehicles. They had also gone on strike on the issue of uniforms and badges in September.
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