Harrowing time for commuters in suburbs

The recognised auto unions reiterated they had not called the strike and appealed to the drivers to resume services as soon as possible,with most saying they will line up meetings with the Transport Commissioner to take up the issue of fare hikes.

“A small group of drivers started the strike by sending chain SMSes. The crackdown on meter-tampering was ethically right and we don’t support the strike,” said Nitesh Rane,head of voluntary group Swabhiman,which has 26,000 vehicles registered under it.

Volunteers of the MNS’ Bandra office threatened auto drivers refusing to ply in Bandra (west) on Monday night,a spokesperson said.

About 70 auto drivers gathered at the RTO in Andheri to voice their grouses. “We barely earn Rs 400 per day,most of which is spent on buying fuel and shelling out the rent for the auto. I will keep asking for higher fares and will stop tampering with the meter only if the basic fare is increased,” said Babanna Dhandhar,an auto driver in Andheri. Dhandhar had retrieved his meter by paying the fine.

Naresh Kavalkar,another auto driver,said the basic fare should be increased to Rs 19 from Rs 11 to match up with Delhi fares. “They make us pay up for small offences such as parking outside the auto stand,keeping commuters’ luggage on the seat,torn seats or improper uniforms. They loot us and then people say auto drivers are thieves,” Kavalkar said.

Bharat Kalaskar,deputy RTO Mumbai (west),assured the drivers that they will not be unfairly targeted and requested them to resume services.