HC rejects auto drivers' plea against installation of GPS

A bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw rejected the auto drivers' association's plea against GPS installation, saying the same is in line with the global trend.

Dismissing the plea that the State Transport Authority (STA) was not empowered to issue the notification for GPS installation, the bench said, "We don't see anything wrong in requiring the auto rickshaws to be GPS/GPRS and printer fitted. The same is in consonance with what is happening in the rest of the world."

"Any inhabitant in Delhi would vouch for the infamy of the auto rickshaw drivers. They are not only known to overcharge but also to take longer rather than direct routes for their own benefit and to the detriment of their patrons and consumers," the bench observed.

The court rejected the auto drivers' argument that the government's decision is "discriminatory and arbitrary" and said, "Installation of GPS would create a proof/evidence of the route taken by the auto rickshaw drivers. We don't find anything wrong in the decision of the respondent State Transport Authority (STA) in this scenario to provide for fitting each auto rickshaw with GPS/GPRS and printing devises so as to regulate their plying thereof..." (MORE)