Mafia on an auto run,SC told

The EPCA believes this ban has ‘pushed’ the public transport system into the hands of the financier mafia.

On September 16,1997,the Supreme Court had ordered that only 55,000 autos could run on Delhi’s roads. A new vehicle could only be introduced as a replacement. In such cases,the permit passes on from the old to the new.

Since permits are so much in demand,original permit holders have begun to sell them to financiers and middlemen. These men,who have formed a cartel and dominate the auto market,sell the vehicle and the accompanying permit for a premium. While the showroom price of an auto is Rs 1.25 lakh,the financiers charge Rs 4.5 lakh.

The vicious cycle continues. The owner rents out the auto at a high price to the driver,who then ends up overcharging customers. The EPCA — set up in 1998 by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to monitor pollution levels — made its observations on the auto scenario in its 34th report,presented on Friday before the apex court’s Special Bench of three judges,headed by Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan.

The EPCA stated: “Removal of the cap will help eliminate the dominating hold of the ‘financier mafia’ who are exploiting not only the auto drivers but also the general public by pushing up artificially the capital cost of three-wheelers,and hence the operational cost.” If more autos are allowed to ply,an owner can bypass financiers and directly approach the government for a permit. “The financiers buy the TSRs (autos) and farm them out. There is no information as to the owner or the driver,” senior advocate and amicus curiae Harish Salve,who presented the report before the court,said on Friday.

The committee’s findings were arrived at after a series of consultations with the Delhi government’s Transport department,the Delhi Police,associations and manufacturers of three-wheelers,the Delhi government’s Weights and Measures department,the Delhi Finance Corporation and the representatives of private financiers and the Automobile Research Association of India (ARAI).

The EPCA explained how the mafia-controlled TSR transport mechanism has led to an increase in pollution levels too. “A bulk of the vehicles (TSRs) on road are owned by a limited number of people who rent these to drivers on a charge of around Rs 250 to Rs 300 for an eight-hour shift. The driver pays for the CNG fuel and minor repairs,which adds to the tendency to cut costs,” the committee said.

The EPCA report also mentions how growing traffic congestion eats into the daily bread of drivers,who are forced to lose their chance to drive the vehicle the next day if they do not earn a substantial daily amount.

The EPCA has also said that the ‘smart card’ system — a smart card would have replaced the permit and carried detailed information on the owner and driver of an auto —has failed to take off. Repeated ads and public announcements elicit no response,the EPCA states.

“In spite of all the efforts of the Transport department to improve the registration database,the system is in bad shape. The addresses of (both owners and drivers) are not clear; ownership information is difficult to transcribe. It is alleged the ownership is concentrated in the hands of the financier mafia,” the committee said.

The EPCA recommended the cap on autos be removed so that the government can develop TSRs as “intermediate public transport vehicles” meant to provide “last-mile connectivity” to commuters in the city.

EPCA proposes

* Mandatory biometric cards for owners and drivers

* 3-wheeler drivers must be mandated to carry their public service badge,to be included in smart card

* Vehicle fitness and emission testing systems must be improved at the Burari centre

* Delhi govt must examine all avenues so that intermediate public transport vehicles can be integrated with mass transit system

* Removal of cap on number of TSRs (autos) must be monitored to assess their impact on pollution