Pre-paid system going awry

KOCHI: The pre-paid autorickshaw facilities at the two railway stations in the city may have  provided much relief to the people reeling under the high-handedness of the three-wheeler operators, had the police kept a constant mechanism to streamline the operation.Ever since the launch of the facility a few years ago, the system available at Ernakulam Junction and Ernakulam Town railway stations, has been drawing complaints from the passengers.  Misbehaviour of auto drivers, fleecing of passengers, lack of sufficient autorickshaws at pre-paid booths are the major problems faced by the commuters.  The pre-paid booths issue paper tokens to the passengers with fares printed on them at the payment of `1. But, in many cases the drivers end up in verbal duel with the travellers on the issue of fare, citing trivial reasons like the vehicle crossing the destined point.Assistant Commissioner, Traffic West, A R Prem Kumar has agreed that there is indeed a shortage of autorickshaws at the railway stations.  “But that happens only during peak hours. The police have taken steps to ensure that the autorickshaws parked outside the railway stations are routed back to the stations,” he said.He said there were practical difficulties to ensure that there are sufficient autorickshaws to meet the demand of the passengers.On the issue of the drivers fleecing the passengers, he said that was mainly owing to poor public response. The public should lodge their complaint at ‘100’ to help the police to discipline the autorickshaw drivers, he said.The moment a complaint is received, the police swing into action to impound the erring drivers and the complainant is alerted about it. The action is taken in the presence of the complainant. In case if there was no response from the public, the autorickshaw driver is merely fined `500.He said the police were aware of the problems being faced by the public while travelling in autorickshaws and were devising plans to tackle them. The traffic police are being very strict with traffic violators who earn them an average of `40,000 a day, he said.