Auto drivers oppose issue of e-challans

Hyderabad: Auto drivers unions in the city have stepped up their fight against the GO 108 and e-challan system, which have been subjecting the auto drivers to enormous financial pressures with increasing fines.

Addressing a round-table meeting of auto drivers unions at Sundarayya Vignana Kendram on Tuesday, POW state president Sandhya questioned why the auto drivers did not feature in the Social Security Act, which was enacted in 2008, and why the labour department did not set up a welfare board to address their concerns. Other States have put such boards in place for taking care of the interests of auto drivers, she pointed out. Md Amanullah Khan, a union leader, said that the meter tariff in the State had not been increased from Rs 9 to Rs 12, though the hike was effected in in Chennai and Bangalore. He said the auto drivers had also been facing difficulties in getting loans for buying autos and expressed shock over the indifferent attitude of political leaders to their problems.

Sivanandam, another union leader, said that though there were sensors being placed at the signals to trigger cameras to take pictures of the vehicles which break the rules, the signals were not equipped with timers. He also expressed concern over manual operation of signals at most of the junctions. He said that batch numbers were being assigned to auto drivers only if they educated at least till Class VIII. This was deterring insurance companies from releasing amount to other drivers if they were involved in any accident.