As police enforced the meter system on Monday evening, unions issued the call for an idenfinite strike in the morning. Some groups stoned ST buses at Nehru bridge, Adajan Patia and GIDC Pandesara and a police van in the afternoon, police said, adding five drivers were arrested and two autorickshaws seized.

While police commissioner Kuldip Sharma maintained that ``people are at these drivers' mercy and being cheated. Not plying vehicles by the meter is an offence and cannot be tolerated'', Surat Auto Rickshaw Sangh, Surat School Autorickshaw Sangh, Shakti Autorickshaw Sangh, Varachha Autorickshaw Sangh, Rana Autorickshaw Sangh, Ekta Autorickshaw Mandal, Sahayog Autorickshaw Sangh and Sahakar Autorickshaw Sangh pledged not to return unless the issue was settled.

What is now at stake is mutual convenience, although illegal, where passengers have been sharing fares between points, rending meters useless for decades. When pointed out that the sharing system was a matter of convenience for drivers and people, Sharma said this needed to be curbed so that the civic body could work out an alternative transport system.

Union leaders alleged rickshaws were being targeted because they were a constant source of `haftas' for police. They alleged police were not taking action against luxury buses, private service between the city and outskirts, ST buses and others violating rules. Varachha Autorickshaw Union president Jayanti Prajapati claimed: ``As much as 95 per cent rickshaws are off the road. The rest are owned by cops''.