Dombivli: Auto drivers near D-Mart accused of overcharging, threatening riders
A resident welfare activist has accused rickshaw drivers at an unauthorised stand near D-Mart in Dombivli of overcharging and intimidating passengers.
A dispute has broken out over an allegedly unauthorised rickshaw stand outside the main gate of D-Mart on Manpada Road in Dombivli. Vishal V. Shete, founding president of the Safety Welfare Association, has alleged that drivers stationed there are charging passengers more than the standard fare, and that anyone who objects is met with rudeness and threats. He said this has caused considerable resentment among commuters, and has demanded that the traffic department and the RTO take action against these drivers.
According to Shete, on the night of September 22 at around 8:30 pm, he booked a rickshaw from D-Mart to go to 90 Feet Road, Kanchangaon-Thakurli. He said the fare for this route had been around Rs 150 for the past few months, but this time the driver demanded Rs 180. When he asked why an extra Rs 30 was being charged, the driver curtly replied that he would have to pay that much, and could leave if he wanted to go. He also alleged that other rickshaw drivers in the area had been instructed not to take any passenger for less than Rs 180 on the 90 Feet Road route. When this arbitrary practice was questioned, some drivers gathered and began arguing loudly.
Shete alleged that if Ola or Uber drivers come to pick up passengers near D-Mart, some rickshaw drivers threaten them as well.
Shete has demanded that the concerned traffic police officers direct rickshaw union office-bearers to instruct their members to follow traffic rules, not park rickshaws in unauthorised spots, not overcharge passengers, not refuse rides, and behave properly with the public.
He has also demanded that the Sub-Regional Transport Office (Kalyan), the Thane city traffic branch and the Kolshewadi traffic control sub-branch investigate the matter immediately and take appropriate action if the violations are confirmed, so that this arbitrary conduct by rickshaw drivers in the D-Mart area is stopped at once.
Asked about this, Datta Malekar, working president of the BJP-backed Rickshaw Drivers Owners Organisation, said that if any driver is behaving in this manner, legal action should certainly be taken against him. He said his union would not work to protect such people. Malekar said the matter had also come to his attention, and that he had asked RTO officials and the traffic police to look into it.
