Tampered meter owners, beware!

Officials of the RTO and Legal Metrology department are out to seize any meters that have been fiddled with

The RTO, along with the Legal Metrology have booked 153 cases under various categories for the past three days. There are 80,000 auto rickshaws plying in the city.

According to the Metrology department officials, meters for which annual verification have not been done will be checked, and if found in a good condition, they will be renewed and returned.
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If found defective, they will be seized by the department. For such cases the fine amount is charged between Rs 500 to Rs 2,500 depending from case to case.


The transport department have checked 2,020 vehicles in the past three days and have booked 153 auto rickshaw drivers under various sections.

Around 2,000 vehicles were checked, and three cases against tampered meters and 150 cases under Section 39(1) have been filed.

"We found only three cases of tampered meters, two on the first day, and one on the third day.

Most of the cases were of annual verification, which was not done and few were of 2-stroke meters being used in a 4-stroke vehicle and when this is done the meter runs a bit more," he added.

All the 10 RTOs have started the drive to book cases against faulty meters in the city.
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"Till date, around 153 cases have been booked by the Metrology department in a joint drive and the drive is still on. At a time five meters can be checked between 10 to 15 minutes," said RTO officer Shafi Ahmed.

If the case is booked under Section 420, the driver will be arrested, and it will be considered a non-bailable offence. Only three cases have been booked against tampered meters in the past three days.

Assistant Controller, Legal Metrology, ANT Unit Bangalore, M Gopalappa said, "In a joint drive with the help of the transport department, we have checked 2,020 vehicles in the past three days from Thursday, and have booked 153 cases under various section with regard to the auto meter."

Joint Commissioner, Transport Department RV D'Souza said, "We can book cases against demanding excess fare, refuse to hire etc and for this the fine amount is Rs 100 under the Motor Vehicle Act.

However, the Legal Metrology department has the right to book cases against faulty and tampered meters which is a major offence."

Number game
2,020: Number of vehicles checked in three days starting September 1
153: Number of cases registered in three days
Day 1: 975 vehicles checked and 65 cases registered.
Day 2: 550 vehicles checked and 49 cases registered.
Day 3: 495 vehicles checked and 39 registered.