The traffic police have started a drive against the taxis and rickshaws that don’t have fare meters or have tampered with them. PHOTO: PPI
If you are fed-up of bargaining with taxi and rickshaw drivers over fares every time you have to use one of them, then the traffic police and the provincial transport department have some good news for you.
To prevent taxi and rickshaw drivers from taking advantage of desperate commuters and demanding high rates, the traffic police and the transport department have decided to implement the meter system in these vehicles.
The traffic police have started a drive against the taxis and rickshaws that don’t have fare meters or have tampered with them. To ensure implementation of the initiative, up to 450 rickshaws and taxis will be fined with Rs500 each every day for meter violations.
“We want to end this trend and fight the monopoly of the transporters who take advantage of the helplessness of the public,” said traffic police sub-inspector Muhammad Idrees. According to him, the traffic police usually concentrate on ‘moving violations’ - the traffic violations that are apparent on the road and may jeopardise the safety of commuters - while ‘covert violations’ usually remain hidden from them unless someone complains. “Complaints regarding lack of fare meters were increasing,” said Idrees. “We have started a special drive in which police sergeants will stop the vehicles and will check their fare meters. The drive will continue till the violation is controlled.”
The lack of working meters on public transport has also been noticed by the provincial transport department and in the next few weeks, they will also be taking strict action against all found violating the meter rules. “Meter violations are serious crimes and we have to make sure that the laws are implemented,” said the department’s focal person, Yar Muhammad Mirjat. “The meter system works perfectly fine and has no flaws. It is for the betterment of both the passengers and the drivers but the drivers tend to take advantage of the dependence of the public on them.”
Mirjat also said that drivers tend to increase or decrease their meters depending on the season and the situation of the city, with rates increasing during the monsoon season and in volatile times as commuters depend more on public transport during such times. “Meter rates were revised by the transport department in 2012.”
The transporters
The vehicle owners do not seem to be against this drive either. A rickshaw driver, 47-year-old Niaz Khan, is happy with the meter system since it means that they will not have to bargain with passengers and waste time. However, his own rickshaw was without a meter. “The manufacturers of CNG rickshaws do not install meters in them,” he explained.
The transporters’ association, however, had objections with the system, saying that installation of meters is not up for discussion. “Haggling is better for the public as compared to the meter system and this topic was closed 20 years ago, so it shouldn’t be brought up again,” said All Karachi Rickshaw, Taxi and Yellow Cab Owners Association chairman Hafilul Haq Hasanzai.
“The city has more than 200,000 rickshaws and if you call for a rickshaw on the road, half a dozen will stop in front of you in a moment. They will then take you wherever you want to go at the fare that you decide.”
He called the drive a conspiracy against public transport. “The government should not talk about the meter system while there are Qingqui rickshaws on the road who take passengers at Rs10 per head,” said Hasanzai.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 22nd, 2014.
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@KarachiWala: Yessirree! If fitting meters on taxis and rickshaws is the brainwave of the Transport department, then were they sleeping all these years? That will be the day. Hah hah and hah hah haaah! Salams
That'll be the day...
In almost every big city of the world the taxis have meters. But a city like Karachi, where the public transport is controlled by a mafia, they charge according to increased price of petrol, but then run their buses on CNG. Then there is the question of Qingqui rickshaws and the new 9 seater rickshaws. When all the rickshaws that have been made after altering the motor bikes are run without any road permit, how come the authorities have just taken notice? "The lack of working meters on public transport has also been noticed by the provincial transport department " isn't it their job to take notice when the first few rickshaws were seen on the roads". And why wait for someone to complain? If you see some of the public transport having rusted body, the metal sheets rusted and torn apart, no one notices them? And the transport association are crying that its a conspiracy? Installing meters is a must. Again the authorities will be at the mercy of the transport mafia.