Traffic police to slap ban on share autos

Hyderabad: The city traffic police on Tuesday decided to ban the movement of sharing auto rickshaws in Greater Hyderabad. According to police, the decision follows the increase in public concern about unsafe practices associated with shared vehicles, such as overcrowding, irregular stopping patterns, and illegal parking on roads.

A meeting was held with the City Auto Owners Association, and during the meeting ACP (Traffic) G Sudheer Babu urged drivers to follow traffic rules. Union drivers were instructed to follow certain rules, such as obeying the stop line, avoiding free left obstruction, not stopping in bus bays or the middle of the road, wearing a uniform, not demanding extra fare or carrying extra passengers, maintaining decent behaviour with passengers, identifying auto stands, and participating in PS level awareness programmes.  It is said that the auto rickshaws cannot compete with private cabs, most of them are forced to operate as shared auto rickshaws. However, the shared autos are not only overloaded, but also disturb traffic by illegally halting and parking on main roads.

The auto rickshaws are metered but they are being forced to convert into shared vehicles as there is a huge demand for the same, as they offer travel at a very low price. Moreover, the reason that shared auto rickshaws should be discouraged is for security reasons and the police have no record of the drivers.  According to the traffic regulations, each auto rickshaw should accommodate only three persons plus the driver, but shared vehicles accommodate at least six people.