Assam: Parking fee without stand for e-rickshaw in Dhubri

GUWAHATI, June 3, 2018: Without a single trace of parking stand for e-rickshaws, the BJP-led Dhubri Municipal Board have been collecting parking fee of Rs.10 from each rickshaw driver in the city.

Peeved at the board's order, members of e-rickshaw association on Friday demonstrated in front of the board's office, demanding that the district authority set aside the "arbitrary order" issued by the board's executive officer Jintu Borah.

The association's president, M. Das, said owners and drivers of e-rickshaws mostly belong to very poor families and live a hand-to-mouth existence. He alleged that government agencies such as the municipal board were trying to impose extra burden on them by collecting "illegal tax in the name of parking fee".

The association demanded that the authorities first provide a parking space within the municipal area and then collect a parking fee. It also demanded a halt to allegedly "illegal" collection of money by the transport department and law enforcement agencies in the name of permits and registration.

Borah had recently issued an order (letter number DM/T/2018-19/10 dated May 28, 2018) which authorises one Sukhan Kirtania of ward 14 in the town to collect Rs 10 as parking fees from e-rickshaw drivers who ply their vehicles in areas that fall under the Dhubri Municipal Board for one year starting from June 1, 2018..

More than 3,000 e-rickshaws ply daily on the roads of Dhubri town and 80 per cent drivers do not have valid registration numbers and operate under the nose of different law-enforcement agencies such as the police, transport department and the district administration.

Borah was not available for comments and the chairperson of the board declined to comment.

Source: The Telegraph

Featured image: The Telegraph