Auto fares will be revised soon: Commissioner

Hyderabad, Sep 27 : Transport Commissioner L Premachandra Reddy assured the delegation of Auto Parirakshana Porata Committee that the existing auto fares will be reasonably increased soon.The delegation led by Mohd Amanulla Khan met him yesterday and presented a memorandum demanding immediate increase in the auto-fares and settlement of other pending issues.They informed the Commissioner that in Bangalore city the auto-fares were already fixed at Rs 17 minimum fare and Rs 9 per kilometre rate with effect from August 1, 2010. They said it had been over two years since the fare for auto was revised in the city as Rs 12 minimum fare and Rs 7 per kilometre . Price of essential commodities had almost doubled and it was the high time for the government to hike the auto fare.Further the delegation informed that as per the government order, the autos converted and run on LPG/CNG were exempted from the payment of Green Tax for five years. But despite the tax exemption the Transport department was collecting the green tax illegally for last 4 years, they demanded that the tax should be refunded to the autodrivers forthwith.The Commissioner assured the delegation that the illegal collection of the tax would be stopped.Finally the Committee leaders informed the Commissioner that if their problems were not solved by the end of this month, auto-drivers would be forced to go on an indefinite strike from October 1, a release from Auto Parisakhana Porata Committee here said today.
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