Cabs, auto services to resume in city today

Cabs, auto services to resume in city today

Commute To Be Costly With High Demand & No Public Transport

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:01.06.2020

After a gap of two months, autorickshaws and cabs will start plying legally in the city from Monday, but fares could be higher than usual due to driver shortage.

T Ramanujam from Tamil Nadu Call Taxi Drivers Association said around 60% of cab drivers who worked in Chennai were stranded in their native places. “It is not clear whether all the available drivers will take the risk and return to work from Monday.”

While a few drivers have gone on long-distance trips and 5,000-odd have ended their lease agreements with cab aggregators as they faced huge losses even before the lockdown.

Drivers said they weren’t sure about the demand as well as it hasn’t increased in the past one week, when cab services were permitted for airport trips. Hardly 20 to 30 bookings were made a day.

On Monday, however, many IT professionals and employees of other private firms will be returning to work and demand might shoot up. But getting a return trip will be a problem, said D Kalanidhi, a driver from Ekkaduthangal. "Also, we are awaiting details on supply of sanitizers or disinfectants and government has made it mandatory to sue them at the end of every trip," he added.

Sources from aggregator Ola Cabs said efforts were underway to provide the essentials and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) at their parking yards and petrol bunks.

Uber in an official statement said a new in-app safety feature will notify drivers to replenish their PPE supplies after they have completed a predetermined number of trips. The notification will provide a list of convenient pick-up points and generate a QR code once they select the preferred location. An Uber volunteer will scan the QR code at the pick-up location and hand over the supplies to drivers.

Given the cap on number of passengers allowed per trip, however, cab drivers opined that many passengers would prefer autorickshaws to taxis.

While three were allowed in cars, excluding the drivers, a maximum of two passengers are allowed in autorickshaws.

With none sticking to the government-approved fares even during normal days, they will have a free hand charging more now. “Demand could also be much more as government Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) buses won’t be available,” said S Dinesh, who is working at a private firm in Sholinganallur.

Even before restrictions were relaxed, autos were operated illegally and drivers overcharged passengers during the lockdown 3.0. For instance, to travel from Periamet to Mint, they usually charged Rs 50- Rs70, but they collected almost double the fare in the last week of May.

Government authorities, however, assured that cases will be registered against auto drivers who fleece customers. People can complain against them by calling 1800-425-5430.

Officials have assured that cases will be registered against auto drivers who fleece customers. You can 1800-425-5430 to report a fare violation