“Switching to fare meters instead of charging travelers arbitrarily would end not only a bad old practice but it would also further the causes of travelling conveniences both to the tourists and as well as the locals in cities and towns across Jammu & Kashmir.”
Though rules make it mandatory for the drivers of auto rickshaws and taxi cabs to install fare meters for charging fares from the customers according to the rates notified by the Government and also revised by it from time to time but the decades old bad practice of arbitrarily over charging travelers heads to no dead end in Jammu and Kashmir. In the post August 5, 2019 scenario practices and procedures of governance have been drastically changed but auto rickshaws and taxi cabs are still allowed to charge travelers arbitrarily and as such this bad old practice is being still pursued by the drivers of auto rickshaws and taxi cabs for their own conveniences and against the conveniences of the travelers in Jammu and Kashmir. Lately Regional Transport Officer (RTO) Kashmir has issued an order directing drivers of auto rickshaws and taxi cabs to use fare meters for charging travelers but several such orders issued in recent years could not be enforced by the authorities for one or the other reason in the end. Finally the will and strength of the authorities to enforce such orders could change the bad old practice once forever in Jammu and Kashmir. Switching to fare meters instead of charging travelers arbitrarily would end not only a bad old practice but it would also further the causes of travelling conveniences both to the tourists and as well as the locals in cities and towns across Jammu & Kashmir. Drivers switching over to fare meter system within days after receiving such orders from the transport department and abandoning it within few weeks later is yet another bad old practice of the drivers of auto rickshaws and taxi cabs due to which fare meter system does not last long anywhere in Kashmir Valley or Jammu division.
“Administrative wisdom demands that Regional Transport Officer (RTO) Kashmir penalises drivers of auto-rickshaws and taxi cabs for not using fare meters instead of asking travelers to come up with complaints of overcharging against the drivers of auto-rickshaws and taxi cabs. Such a strong practice and procedure of law enforcement if implemented in active coordination and cooperation with traffic police department and monitored by RTO Kashmir himself could bring to end the bad old practice of arbitrary overcharging by drivers of auto-rickshaws and taxi cabs both in Kashmir Valley and as well as Jammu division. “
So enforcing the fare meter system with courage matters more than issuing an order which is virtually consigned to records within a short span of few weeks. The drivers plying auto-rickshaws and taxi cabs without meters in blatant violations of rules are not penalised for the highly objectionable offence either by the field functionaries of transport department or the traffic cops remaining busy in checking the documents of both public and private vehicles from dawn to dusk . Administrative wisdom demands that Regional Transport Officer (RTO) Kashmir penalises drivers of auto-rickshaws and taxi cabs for not using fare meters instead of asking travelers to come up with complaints of overcharging against the drivers of auto-rickshaws and taxi cabs. Such a strong practice and procedure of law enforcement if implemented in active coordination and cooperation with traffic police department and monitored by RTO Kashmir himself could bring to end the bad old practice of arbitrary overcharging by drivers of auto-rickshaws and taxi cabs both in Kashmir Valley and as well as Jammu division.
