Mumbai's touts, dealers make hay as drivers queue up to recalibrate meters

They might have rejoiced at getting a fare hike but auto rickshaw and taxi drivers are battling to get their meters recalibrated to the new fare system without having to shell out money to illegal touts RTO Regional Transport Office officials too are party to this corruptionAuto drivers lined up at testing tracks from 7 am to get meters recalibrated and passed Those who didnrsquot pay the bribes had to wait till the end of the day or go back emptyhanded PicKaushik ThanekarAfter initial hiccups in the first couple of days since recalibration began on August 17 there were scores of auto rickshaws and taxis that lined up across various test tracks in Mumbai since 7 am in serpentine queues stretching into kilometres Their first mission was to get their emeter reset In this the chip inside has to be replaced with the one calibrated with the new faresA tout in blue tshirt is seen lsquoassistingrsquo an RTO official in the recalibration processDealers who were fitting these chips extracted their pound of flesh by overcharging for the service the Transport departmentapproved rate is Rs 500 but dealers were asking for Rs 200300 more for every emeter Justifying themselves dealers said they didnrsquot earn any profits from the governmentapproved chargesDrivers initially were forced to fork out the amount but later when unions applied pressure RTOs made it clear that drivers wouldnrsquot pay a rupee more than the stipulated amount Union leaders went to shops and garages and threatened to stall the process if overcharging was observedldquoWe also approached the RTOs and gave it to them in writingrdquo said a union leader on condition of anonymity midday spoke to a few drivers who admitted to having been victims to this practice Putting dealers in place was just a small win The bigger battle was to fight corruption at the RTOAfter emetres are aligned to the new fare and tested at governmentcertified institutes where testing facilities are available the vehicles had to go for onroad testing at testing tracks Here touts were assisting RTO officials and were part of the entire official procedure making a mockery of the systemWith the long lines of autos and taxis agents began approaching drivers to pay them to lsquoget their work donersquo For Rs 150200 one could jump the queue On Wednesday all vehicles with licence plate ending in lsquo0rsquo had been waiting since 7 am for testing at the AndheriLokhandwala testing trackldquoWe were told the testing and passing of our emeters would be done in queue However these touts influenced the procedure and forms and papers of only those who agreed to pay were given to RTO officersrdquo said a furious driver who claimed he refused to pay a bribeFor those who came late the charge went up to R300 revealed an auto union leader Those who chose to defy the corruption had to wait till the end of the day or were told to come back the next day as office hours were over The agents not only ferried papers but also accompanied officials for inspecting the emetersDuring inspection the vehicles go on a minimum ride of 2 km an RTO official is present at the start and the end point to check if the meter is functioning properly Agents were seen standing next to the officials sometimes people who didnrsquot look like RTO officers were seen in the back of the vehiclesThe RTO official on the other end of the line has to monitor every vehicle but hardly did this happen A few agents were seen tightening wires behind the emeter which is one of the parameters to ensure the meter is sealed These blatant violations happened in front of officialsrsquo eyes