The state government has decided to regularise unauthorised autorickshaws plying in and around the city.
In a recent notification, the government made it clear that the regularisation was necessary to ensure “the safety and security of the passengers travelling on such unauthorised autorickshaws and their difficulties in getting legal assistance in case of an accident”.
A meeting called on December 29 to discuss the process decided that the owners of all unauthorised autos that have been running in Kolkata and its adjoining areas since March 31, 2019, would be given a one-time chance to regularise their vehicles.
The government will decide the routes where they will be accommodated, a transport department official said.
“An 11-member committee has been set up to deal with the issue. The committee — which includes the deputy commissioners of police in charge of traffic management in the Kolkata, Howrah, Bidhannagar and Barrackpore commissionerates — has been given some points on which it has to file a report within a month,” the official said.
The committee also includes the regional transport officers of Howrah, and North and South 24-Parganas and other senior officials of the transport department. The points on which the committee will file its report include:
- Route-wise data of unregistered autos operating since March 31, 2019, with their engine and chassis numbers
- Data on autos that have permits for specific routes but are operating on other routes
- Route-wise data of registered autos that don’t have any permits but have been operating since March 31, 2019
- Whether all the auto routes are valid or whether some have been created for the benefit of passengers
In an “autorickshaw policy” announced in 2018, the state government had declared 484 routes to be legal and specified the number of autos that would be operating on these routes with specific route permits.
The policy said the process of route-wise streamlining of autos would be over by March 31, 2019.
“The transport department has observed that unauthorised autorickshaws are still operating on various routes without insurance, registration, tax receipts and pollution-under-control certificates,” said a senior official of the transport department.
“An attempt is now being made to find out whether there can be alteration or addition of auto routes and whether more permits can be issued for certain routes,” the official said.
Autorickshaws have remained an informal sector in the state’s transport system because, unlike their status in the Central Motor Vehicles Act, they have remained stage-carriage, and not contract-carriage.
Over the years, auto routes, which provide last-mile connectivity to a large number of people, have become liabilities because of an unregulated spike in the number of vehicles.
The Garia-Tollygunge auto route has more than 800 vehicles. The Ultadanga-Sovabazar route has in excess of 1,000 autos. The fleet strength fixed for the two routes are 120 and 145, respectively.
The Ultadanga-Baguiati route has a sanctioned fleet strength of 75. In reality, more than 200 autos ply between the two places.
“The government has told the committee that any change in routes has to be made after considering inputs from the police commissionerates,” said an officer of Kolkata police.
Auto overturns in Ballygunge
Two persons in an auto were injured when the driver lost control and the vehicle overturned on Ashutosh Chowdhury Avenue in south Kolkata on Thursday morning. Police said Angel Gomez, 21, and Sulakshana Bhowmick, 44, were treated at SSKM Hospital.
