Transport Secretary S. Raghunathan today ordered the department to trace the errant drivers mentioned in the report based on a random survey by Express Newsline reporters who travelled in six different autorickshaws to several parts of the city yesterday. A high-ranking official in the weights and measures department of the Delhi government claims he is not surprised that the new meters have been tampered with. He argues that the new system of calculating the fare was introduced for a different purpose than just making the meters tamper-proof.

Rashmi Singh, deputy director, State Transport Authority, states that her department never said that the new meter would be tamper-proof. ``We will not have to revise the meter whenever the petrol fares change,'' she said.

``According to the new system, the reading on the meter have to be multiplied by 2.50 and then 3 added to the product. So when the petrol fare rises, we can increase the present rate of Rs 2.50 to Rs 3.00. The meters do not have to be taken to the taxi meter unit each time there is a hike in petrol prices,'' she stated.

Clearly the commuters do benefit from the new move. The meter can easily be tampered with, as the officials concerned admit. And despite the new meters, the commuters have to go through the rigmarole of calculating the fare as most autorickshaw drivers just do not carry the official ``fare chart''. Andwith every revision of petrol prices the formula used for the calculation will change. All in all, commuters have not gained in any way from the much-hyped change.

The new meters only serve to make it easier for the government to revise rates in case of a hike in petrol prices and autorickshaw drivers stand to benefit as they do not have to go in for recalibration of the meter.

Raghunathan insists that the new meter will help commuters. ``All that they have to do is keep note of the distance in kms and calculate the fare according to the formula prescribed by us,'' he stated.

This apart, the meters are no different from the old ones. The taxi meter unit in-charge B.S. Sharma said: ``There is no difference in the make of the two meters. The only new attribute is that the procedure for calculating the total fare on the new meters is different.''

The STA is preparing a booklet containing the fare chart. A commuter, the authorities expect, should always carry this booklet, which will also contain information about distances in km between important places.

Transport department officials believe that the only way they can check tampering of meters is through regular checks: ``As we have not yet come up with a technology that can prevent meters from being tampered, the only way out is by having frequent surprise checks. Now that the Blueline buses are off the Capital's roads, we have more time to check erring autorickshaws.,'' Raghunath said.

Steps the govt needs to take: Fare charts have to be displayed prominently next to the meter facing the commuter.

The charts should be laminated and signed by an official of the State Transport Authority.

The police be given power to challan an autorickshaw driver, if he is not carrying the fare chart.

The STA, with the help of the traffic police, should regularly check meters.