New Delhi, Dec 18: Exasperated by the difficulty faced by commuters due to frequent strikes by three-wheelers, the Delhi government has approached the Supreme Court seeking permission to lift the restriction over registration of new autorickshaws in a bid to break the monopoly of unions. In an application filed through counsel S Wasim Ahmed Quadri, the Delhi government sought modification of the apex court`s December 16, 1997 order, by which it had frozen the number of TSRs and had directed the transport department not to grant fresh permits in respect of TSRs except by way of replacement of a old one with a new one. "Limitation on induction of fresh autorickshaws for public transportation has increased the incidents of misbehaviour, overcharging and refusal to carry passengers," the government said echoing public sentiments.
"Increasing the number of TSRs will help us to control the incidence of misbehaviour and this will be in the interest of the commuters," it pleaded. The government said the level of pollution has been drastically reduced by its decision only to register four-stroke TSRs in place of the earlier two-stroke TSRs, which were contributing significantly to the pollution.
It said with the conversion of all autos into CNG mode, there was no fear of any increase in the pollution level and hence "there is no reason to restrict the fresh registration of TSRs." Bureau Report