Hyderabad: 7,000+ auto-rickshaws unfit; autos for scrap sold illegally

Hyderabad: It is an unfortunate yet well known fact that autowalas demand exorbitant fares when a passenger requests for a ride, however, what remains undisclosed is that these autos might be unfit or even illegal to ply on the City roads.

There are over 7,000 auto-rickshaws in the City, plying illegally under the nose of authorities, risking the lives of the passengers. The service life of these auto-rickshaws have expired years ago and are supposed to be scrapped, yet still they are seen ferrying passengers.

According to the City Auto and Motor Cab Drivers Welfare Society, there are thousands of unfit, scrap-worthy autos plying on City roads. They allege that the autos which arrive for being scraped at Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) offices are being sold illegally. "As per RTA records, from 2008 to 2022, over 80,000 autos were scrapped, however, several thousand unfit autos are running in the twin cities. This is due to the sheer negligence of higher authorities," said the organisation's president, Mohammed Mahmood Hussain Makke.

He said that most of these unfit autos are plying under RTA's west and east zones. "These unfit autos are posing a risk to the lives of passengers, especially for students as they are usually used for ferrying school and college goers. There is also a risk of these autos being used for anti-social activities," he added and said that a passenger who meets with an accident in or through such autos will remain helpless as they cannot claim the insurance amount because insurance companies never insure on accidents involving a scrap auto rickshaw or a dead vehicle.

Mahmood Makke alleges that scrap auto rickshaws are illegally sold in collusion with RTA-authorised scrap dealers and that over 7,000 plus auto rickshaws have been sold so far and are plying on City and district roads.

An auto driver from Golconda, on the condition of anonymity, mentioned that he was shocked to find out that his pre-owned passenger auto-rickshaw, purchased from a dealer was under the list of scrapped vehicles when he took it to the RTA office for a fitness check.

He said he was informed that as per RTA records, the autorickshaw was scrapped and the permit of the vehicle was transferred to another autorickshaw. Several cases of such kind were reported in RTAs, as unfit autos arrive for renewal and fitness.

Moreover, auto drivers in the City state that the auto-scrap amount for iron in the present market rate and as per the rate given by the government is Rs 38 per kilogram and a minimum weight of 300 kilograms would fetch Rs 11,000. "But, RTA authorised scrap dealers are hardly issuing Rs 4,000, which is against the RTA rules," Mahmood alleged and added that these scrapped autos, as per RTA records are being sold up to Rs 80,000 with the collusion of officers and scrap dealers, which is the matter of concern in the RTA and in the multi-crore auto-scrap scam market.

Auto drivers have also said that on December 12, a representation was given to Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar, Transport Commissioner, Joint Commissioner and Secretary, regarding the scrapping policy and illegal sale of scrapped autos.