When we first saw the government’s scheme to install GPS/GPRS devices in all autorickshaws of Delhi, we thought it was a pie-in-the sky dream. But when we dug deeper, what came out was pure 24 carat muck.

The scheme was brought in for giving multiple benefits to the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. One, it gives them a steady ‘black income’ of tens of crores of rupees every year. Two, it portrays them as a progressive tech-savvy regime. Three, such schemes help deflect the attention from more pressing issues such as the auto finance mafia.

In order to explain why we are opposing the scheme on behalf of the auto drivers, we will look at the government’s data rather than beating our drums.

INFORMATION OBTAINED UNDER THE RTI ACT

Contrary to the claims of the government before the media, making demons out of the auto drivers in the process, the information revealed that:

1. the transport department is yet to decide what benefits will be available to the passengers from the GPS/GPRS device.
2. it does not know the details of the mechanism of use of the panic button.
3. it has not yet decided the location at which the Central Command Centre will be set up, if any.
4. such an ambitious scheme for 55,000 TSRs has been launched without conducting field trial on even a single autorickshaw.
5. the transport department has not even seen the GPS/GPRS device more than five months after it published the advertisement in the newspapers.
6. the transport department has decided on the pricing but does not know the specifications of the GPS/GPRS equipment that it has mandated for installation.
7. the transport department has no mechanism whereby the GPS/GPRS device can be used to capture violation of any rule by a TSR driver/owner and he can be prosecuted.
8. it has not been decided what reports will be available to various agencies/authorities through this ambitious project.
9. it has not been decided which of the agencies (i.e., Transport Department, Traffic Police, Traffic courts, etc.) will have access to the system or any reports generated by it.
10. no decision has been taken with regard to the training which will be imparted to TSR drivers for operating the device.
11. the transport department has not set up any repair centres yet for the GPS/GPRS device.

A sincere and responsive government would not have gone ahead with a scheme which serves no purpose and which is totally bereft of a vision and an implementation plan.

THE CORRUPTION

The government first demanded a sum of Rs.15,000 per vehicle per year. Under pressure, it brought this demand down to Rs.7,500 per year but offered no reason. That should be cause enough for alarm. What’s more, out of this money which amounts to Rs.42 crore per annum, Rs.15 crore will be paid to a private company that will do nothing more than receive data from 56,000 autorickshaws and store on its servers. Cost towards the GPS rental and GPRS billing is additional. Any GPS/GPRS vendor will be happy to do the same work for less than 10% of this amount. That includes NyayaBhoomi. Give us this contract and we will charge only 10% of Rs.15 crore.

No prizes for guessing where the money will go.

WHY THE SCHEME IS ILLEGAL

Transport Department says that it has mandated installation of GPS device under Section 74 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. But this Section does not give any such authority to the department. This authority lies with the state legislature which has to first frame such a Rule and then the Lt. Governor has to sign it before it can be enforced. No such thing has happened, rendering the decision of the transport department illegal.

UNCONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE SCHEME

According to the transport department, average earning of an auto driver is less than Rs.6,000 per month. Installation of GPS/GPRS device will put a burden of approximately Rs.1,600 per month which may push the auto driver to the brink of starvation and deprive his children of education. This is a violation of the fundamental right to life as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

By pushing for GPS/GPRS on autorickshaws alone but not on black and yellow taxis, blueline buses or DTC buses, the government stands in violation of the fundamental right to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution.

Article 265 of the Constitution also suffers because the government has no authority to collect fee or tax without proper authority of law.

WHEN WE WENT TO DELHI HIGH COURT

Since the replies to the RTI applications had not fully come in, we decided to file writ petitions on behalf of drivers rather than filing a PIL (public interest litigation). The first writ petition prepared by us was filed on behalf of 197 auto drivers. On 03.05.11, the first date of hearing, although the judge Ms. Indermeet Kaur appeared to feel that GPS/GPRS would be beneficial to passengers, she directed the transport department not to take coercive action against these drivers if they do not install GPS device in their vehicles. A copy of the writ petition can be downloaded by clicking on this link:-

Download writ petition filed by 197 auto drivers against GPS sceme (pdf)

Second writ petition was filed on behalf of 241 drivers and heard on 27.05.11 by the same judge , but strangely, she refused to grant the interim stay this time in spite of everything being identical. This is a clear violation of the doctrine of parity and demonstrates the judiciary's arbitrariness. The writ petition came before another judge Mr. Rajiv Sahai Endlaw for hearing on 22.07.11. After waiting for the entire day, the turn came just 3 minutes before the end of the day. Shockingly, the judge simply said "there is no time" and refused to pay heed to our arguments. He has posted the case for hearing on 16.11.11 in spite of knowing that the writ petition may become useless by then. The petition can be downloaded by clicking on this link:-

Download writ petition filed by 241 auto drivers against GPS sceme (pdf)

The third experience was even worse. The case was filed this time in the form of a PIL on behalf of NyayaBhoomi. Information under the RTI Act had come in and it could be very damaging to the Transport Department. We were so confident of success that a press release had been prepared in advance. However, the 10 minutes of hearing that took place before the Chief Justice and another judge came as a rude shock. The judges argued as if they held the brief for the Transport Department and tried to show the GPS scheme as a policy decision. They levelled accusations of fleecing against the auto drivers and expressed the opinion that GPS can stop it. This, in spite of having the facts before them. Finally, the PIL was disposed of on the ground that if the auto drivers have any grievance, they can approach the court themselves. It was clear from the attitude and order that the judges (1) were biased against the auto drivers, (2) showed their tilt in favour of the GPS scheme, and (3) treat PILs as unnecessary burden. The petition can be downloaded by clicking on this link:-

Download PIL filed by NyayaBhoomi against GPS sceme (pdf)

Order passed by the court can be downloaded from here:-

Download order dated 27.07.11 on the above PIL (pdf)

It is time for the readers to judge the judges.