|
This portion of the website is a slightly modified version of
the report of Khullar Committee submitted in December 2002. It
is noteworthy that nearly 5 years have gone by but the
situation on the ground has only worsened in the interim. The
government has done absolutely nothing. |
|
Until around the year 2000, most autorickshaws were
owner-driven. On 28 July 1998, the Supreme Court directed that
all autorickshaws would need to be converted to CNG mode. After
dilly dallying for two years, the government went about
implementing this decision in a haphazard and hasty manner,
forcing the auto drivers to find and spend Rs.30,000 for
retrofitting of their vehicles with CNG kits. The auto owners
could ill-afford such a huge expense almost overnight. Formal
credit markets such as commercial banks traditionally do not
advance loans to the autorickshaw drivers. The drivers were
therefore forced to sell their vehicles to financiers who
retrofitted the vehicles with CNG kits. These vehicles were then
rented back to the original owners at exorbitant daily rent of
Rs.250 and up, amounting to Rs.7,000 per month. This situation
also led to the coining of the phrase “Auto Mafia” or “Finance
Mafia”. There are valid reasons for the high rental rates
though, including the cost of maintenance of a CNG auto which is
7 to 10 times higher compared with a petrol auto.
On environmental grounds, by an order of 16.12.1997 and
another order of 19.11.2004, the Supreme Court had also directed
that no new permits for autorickshaws shall be granted in Delhi.
This literally put a restriction on numbers on the supply side,
causing a gradual escalation in the price of an autorickshaw
from an official on-road price of Rs.1,25,000 in 2000 to
Rs.3,10,000 as of February 2007.
This high cost of the vehicle coupled with the absence of
organized credit for the autorickshaw segment proved a double
whammy for pauperized drivers who could not dream of owning an
autorickshaw ever again. Add the abnormally high cost of
maintenance of a CNG auto, and the circle of woes is complete. |
