Fed up of paying fines, auto drivers want to know when campaign will come to an end
Fed up of paying fines, auto drivers want to know when campaign will come to an end
It was Day 2 of Week 3 of the campaign launched by MiD DAY and Radio One along with the traffic police and the Regional Transport Office, and 32 offenders were caught. 
On Monday morning MiD DAY reporters started the campaign opposite Gold Adlabs cinema in Kalyani Nagar.
Just a day after the city celebrated Akshay Trutiya, most people seemed to be in a lazy mood and there were fewer number of autorickshaws on the street.
The first two rickshaws got booked for refusing fare and soon a crowd gathered.
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On learning about the auto campaign, an auto driver came up to us and said his vehicle was caught a couple of weeks ago. The driver wanted to know when the campaign would get over.
By then, a crowd had gathered and the reporters moved further. Most autorickshaw drivers that were subsequently booked were refusing short distance fares.
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Here's what we found
Reporters: Alifiya Khan and Abid Hasan
Place: Kalyani Nagar Chowk
Time: 10 AM-11 AM
Offenders booked: 5
One autorickshaw driver who wasu00a0 asked to go to Yerawada initially refused but later agreed when he saw a traffic cop approaching. Another who was asked for the same destination refused and stopped a few metres away. He said he had come to buy beer for a passenger when he saw the police.
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Reporters: Abid Hasan and Sonia Rodrigues
Place: Gold Adlabs, Kalyani nagar
Time: 6 PM-7.30 PM
Offenders booked: 5
A rickshaw driver was asked to ply to Chandni Chowk but he demanded for Rs 20 extra.u00a0u00a0 Another wanted Rs 30 extra for going to an 'out of area' destination. The next driver agreed but only if the reporters got off mid-way.u00a0
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Reporter: Abid Hasan Place: Symbiosis College, Viman Nagar
Time: 7.45 PM-8.15 PM
OFFENDERS BOOKED: 3
Drivers were asked to go Konark Campus, which is barely a few metres away, but most of them refused. They all wanted a long distance fare and one said he didn't want to waste time, as he had to shut shop for the day soon.
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Reporter: Sonia Rodrigues
Place: Viman Nagar
Time: 7.30 PM-8.15 PM
OFFENDERS BOOKED: 4
A driver was asked to ply a short-distance to Chandan Nagar. He immediately asked for Rs 10 extra and was booked. Within minutes, three more drivers were booked.
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Reporter: Abid Hassan
Place: Camp area
Time: 8.15 PM-8.45 PM
OFFENDERS BOOKED: 8
The locals said that getting rickshaws for long distance was difficult. So the reporter asked drivers to go to far off areas like Lohegaon airport and Chandni Chowk. One refused to ply whereas the others demanded an extra fare ranging from Rs 30 to Rs 300 and half return fares.
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Reporter: Sonia Rodrigues
Place: Ramwadi area
Time: 8.30 PM-9.15 PM
OFFENDERS BOOKED: 7
All seven auto drivers that were booked agreed to ply as long as they were paid a return fare. Their claim was that it was difficult to find fares from that particular area while returning. They asked for Rs 200 to Rs 300 extra when the normal fare is a maximum of Rs 150.
To register your complaint
Call 020-26208225
This is an exclusive number given by traffic police to MiD DAY readers to register refuse-to-fare complaints.
You can also send us your complaints at punemail@mid-day.com.
To send in your complaints by SMS: Type RTO, followed by space, your complaint and send it to 59994.
For example: RTO autorickshaw number XYZ is charging extra fare from Swargate to Pune Station.
MiD DAY will be running this daily campaign to ensure that YOUR commutingu00a0 problems are eased. Watch this space for our daily campaign.
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