The Hindu : Front Page : Central station autos to adopt pre-paid system

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Wednesday, Aug 15, 2007
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Central station autos to adopt pre-paid system

Karthik Subramanian

— File photo: K. Pichumani

COMMUTER-FRIENDLY: The new fare collection system will come into force from Thursday.

CHENNAI: The Transport department has asked the autorickshaw stand at the Chennai Central railway station to collect the entire fare in advance than just fix the fare for a service charge.

Senior transport officials said the move would make the arrangement a ‘pre-paid’ system than the ‘pre-fixed’ system that is in vogue now.

Now passengers pay a service charge of Rs. 2 and get a computerised receipt indicating the destination and the fare.

They pay the full fare to the driver at the end of the journey.

Resident welfare activists had pointed out that the ‘pre-fixed’ system still left the commuters at the mercy of drivers as there was a possibility that they would demand more on reaching the destination.

The fares themselves were 50 per cent higher than the normal fares – Rs.21 for the first two km and Rs. 9 for every subsequent km.

Pre-paid auto stands are operating successfully in other cities, including New Delhi and Mysore.

Also a pre-paid taxi system has been functioning successfully at the Chennai airport.

The Transport department had issued a circular to the Chennai Central Railway Station Passengers and Commuters Welfare Association, which operates the stand, to start running autorickshaws on a ‘pre-paid’ basis from Sunday morning. However several autorickshaw drivers protested and the Railway Police asked the Association to revert to the old system. The association has planned to launch the ‘pre-paid’ system from Thursday.

Autorickshaw drivers will need to submit the counterfoil signed by the passenger at the stand to collect their fare. The money would be kept in a locker and the drivers can collect the fare on another day if in case they decide not to return to the station the same day.

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