Noida: In some good news for the commuters riding on auto-rickshaws, they will now pay fare as per 'to be installed' fare meters. On Friday, May 13, 2022, the Gautam Budh Nagar transport department, in a meeting with the representatives of the NCR Auto Union, asked the auto drives in GB Nagar to install fare meters. They have also asked them to renew their auto's fitness certificates within a week, failing which, serious action will be taken against them.
The auto-rickshaw fare rates were fixed back in 2015 when the CNG rate was ₹37 per kg in Uttar Pradesh. Today, CNG rates stand at ₹75 per kg and the auto-rickshaw fares are not being revised. The autorickshaws, as of now, are supposed to charge ₹25 as a minimum fare for two kilometers and ₹8 for every subsequent kilometer.
Vijay Kumar, a resident of Sector 41, says, "I have to pay Rs 100 from the city center as no other transport facility is available at that place. There are no meters installed in the autos here, that’s why they charge us as much as they want. Due to unavailability of transport facilities, we have to give much fare."
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Nilesh Kumar, an auto driver from Sector-73 says,
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"We have no meters installed in our autos. This area is not like Delhi. In Delhi, the auto drivers find passengers at almost every corner, but we have to come back in a vacant auto from the drop location of the passengers, that's why we have to charge double rates."
Dinanath Saha, an auto driver from sector 53 says,
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"I don't have any idea about the meter, but if meters are installed, the rates should also be revised and we should be paid a fair amount by the passengers."
According to the information gathered, the Gautam Buddh Nagar transport department has decided that auto-rickshaws without meters will not be allowed in Noida and the Greater Noida. Besides the meter, a fitness certificate will also be mandatory for auto-rickshaws to ply in the twin cities of the western Uttar Pradesh district adjoining Delhi.
