MANGALORE: A common grievance one gets to hear from travellers is that they are often taken for a ride by a few unscrupulous autorickshaw or taxi drivers. Haggling with the drivers to arrive at a reasonable fare to reach the destination, especially at unearthly hours, is the last thing on the mind of a weary traveller.

In a bid to address this problem, the Regional Transport Authority here has taken the initiative to introduce the pre-paid autorickshaw service at the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation bus station at Bejai and at the main railway station here. This service is likely to begin next week as the authority is finalising the details in this regard.

H.N. Ramesh, secretary of the authority and Regional Transport Officer, told The Hindu here that destination boards are being readied at both the locations and the service will begin soon. Besides, work on readying the booths at the KSRTC bus station and at the main railway station is on and is expected to be ready shortly, he said.

Noting that the authority is yet to decide on requests for pre-paid autorickshaws at Jyothi Circle and Kankanady railway station, he said they will be taken up based on the efficacy of the service at the KSRTC bus stand and the main railway station.

"We need around Rs. 30,000 to set up the booths," he said and added that "Corporation Bank has sponsored both the booths."

Commuters seeking to make use of this system will have to pay Rs. 2 as fixed by the authority as well as the prescribed fare to their destination. The autorickshaw fares will be displayed on the destination boards, he said and added that it will also be mentioned in the receipt that will be issued to commuters as they board the autorickshaw.

Safety measure

As a safety measure, the registration number of the autorickshaw will be mentioned on the receipt and these details will be maintained at the pre-paid booths, he said.

The authority has sought help from the Police Department to ensure that the autorickshaw drivers maintain discipline as well as to attend to any grievance that the commuters may have.

The Superintendent of Police, Soumendu Mukherjee, said traffic police constables deputed at the booths will ensure the orderly functioning of the system. Admitting that there is a need to introduce the system at the Kankanady railway station, he said the authorities concerned are working out the modalities for it as well.

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