'Refusal to ply is not a crime'

On day 37 of MiD DAYs Meter Down campaign auto drivers argued with traffic constables justifying their refusals in plying short distance faresPlace Sion JunctionTime 10 am1130 amOffenders caughtu00a08Commuters speakReshmi Prabhudesai said Rickshaw drivers refusals to ply short distance fares have become a daily affair I want to go to Bandra Court but not a single driver is ready to ferry me Yogesh Wajge said Im in a hurry to reach BKC but no driver wants to ply me Besides these rogue drivers charge anywhere between Rs 30 to Rs 40 saying that its cheap Spending that much on a short distance fare isnt cheap Jaan Sharif a senior citizen who was refused a fare to Kurla Court thrice said These drivers dont care about passengers emergency They only look after their convenienceGood boy A traffic constable pats an auto driver for accepting his mistake Pic Sayed Sameer AbediAuto drivers speak Sakharam Khodade who refused a fare to Nehru Nagar said Theres an emergency at my residence and I was in a hurry to reach home Hence I refused the passenger Irfan Ansari Traffic cops have nabbed me unnecessarily I havent refused a single fare Text Vishakha SonawanePlace BARC Junction and Mankhurd StationTime 9 am11 am and 5 pm7 pmOffenders caughtu00a0 3Commuters speakManjali Ghulap said Usually theres a horde of autos waiting at the stand to ferry passengers Surprisingly today none of the drivers are ready to go to BARC Colony Some even sped away after hearing the destination Parchuram Dangre said Mines a field job which requires a lot of travelling With auto drivers refusing to ply it affects my performance Besides during peak hours they dont hesitate from overcharging peopleGotcha A driver being fined for his refusal PicSameer MarkandeAuto drivers speak Mohammed Safiq Shaikh The driver working in the morning shift forgot to refuel the tank I was on my way to refill it and hence refused the fare Rajendra Salvi who started arguing with the officials said Ive only refused a passenger not committed a heinous crime I did so because I was in a hurrySpot of botherTraffic constables posted inside the BARC colony nabbed Gulam Shaikh and Ganesh Sitaram for driving without a licence and appropriate documents A traffic official said Checks are carried out within the colony on a regular basis and we always end up catching a driver or two for driving without adequate documents Text Faisal G TandelPlace Outside Borivli Station WTime 6 pm730 pmOffenders caught 2Commuters speakKanchan Khare said Refusals by errant rickshaw drivers is a problem that most commuters face on a daily basis and especially during peak hours The RTO must take stringent action against these rogue drivers to curb this menace Swarna Pimple said After a hard days work you just want to board a rickshaw and reach home at your earliest Unfortunately these days drivers exploit metre halfdown excuse to evade fines for snubbing short distance faresBooked An errant driver being penalised for refusing to ply a short distance fare Pic Sameer MarkandeAuto drivers speakRakesh Yadav The tail lights of my vehicle are not working and since I didnt want to take the risk of driving at night I refused to ply Bhailal Kashyap I was on my way home hence I refused to ply the passenger Text Nivedita Dargalkar