Noida: No fitness certificate for autos without fare meter, says RTO

A fitness certificate will only be issued to auto-rickshaws with functional fare meters, said the Noida transport department on Wednesday, adding that the department will also initiate legal action, including an FIR, against those operating autos without fare meters.

Officials said eight non-functional meters were confiscated on Tuesday. The initiative came after district magistrate Manish Kumar Verma directed officials to take strict action against auto-rickshaw owners running their vehicle without a valid meter.

Udit Narayan Pandey, assistant regional transport officer, enforcement, said many auto-rickshaws lack functional meters or they rent them temporarily to pass inspections. “We have received information that most autos do not have functional meters. Sometimes, auto drivers procure these meters on rent for a day or two to get their fitness certificates after which they remove them,” he said.

ARTO Pandey said only auto-rickshaws running with valid fare meters are eligible to get a fitness certificate, but it came to fore that a gang is functional that rents out meters to auto drivers for ₹100, allowing them to obtain fitness certificates.

“If we found any such incident, strict action would be taken. We will also register cases against auto drivers and those involved in renting out meters,” said Siyaram Verma, assistant regional transport officer, administration.

According to the Noida transport department, there are currently 20,000 auto-rickshaws, and around 2,000 of them are equipped with meters as they serve in the NCR region. However, the remaining autos ply locally and only around 3,000 of them have fare meters.

Noida autorickshaw drivers’ association expressed concerns about the outdated fare structure, which has not been revised since 2015, when the CNG price was ₹35 per kg as compared to the current rate of ₹79 per kg. “Noida’s fare should reflect Delhi’s, where drivers charge ₹30 for the first one and a half kilometers and ₹11/km thereafter,” said Lal Babu, president, Noida’s autorickshaw drivers’ association.

“The auto fares in Noida are currently set at ₹25 for the first two kilometers and ₹8 for every kilometre after that,” said Lal Babu.

Lal Babu further said the association has repeatedly submitted memorandums demanding fare revisions over the past five years, but these requests have gone unheeded.

Transport department officials said they will forward the association’s demands for a fare revision to the headquarters for consideration.