Mangaluru, February 2: The district in charge minister Ramanath Rai, has asked the Deputy Commissioner who is also the president of RTA to revise the auto fares again.
The auto fares were revised during the second week of January which were brought down to Rs 20 as minimum from the present minimum fare of Rs 25 and the auto drivers were informed to follow the revised rates from January 12th. But the auto drivers who were not happy with it refused to follow the new fare had staged a stir by halting the auto rickshaw service for three days and urged for a new fair revival.
When the district administration did not agree for a fair revival once again; the strike was withdrawn after they received assurances from the district in charge minister.
A meeting regarding the issue of auto fares was held at circuit house on Sunday with district in charge minister Ramanath Rai, Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim, RTO and concerned authorities met with the leaders of auto drivers associations in the presence of the minister.
Minister Ramanath Rai asked the DC to revise the auto fares once again. But the DC made his point very clear. He repeatedly said that the interest of the commuters will be kept in mind. He also stated that no injustice has been done to auto drivers when the revision was made.
DC also revealed that compared to other places in the state, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts have the highest fare. He also handed over the data of Mumbai and Kasargod fares which are less than the fares in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.
At present the DC has asked the auto operators to clearly show why they could not charge the revised rate and run the autos profitably. The DC has also said for running the autos profitably, Rs 10 was sufficient per kilometre.
