In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Mumbai Traffic Police wrote on October 23, 2024, “Wondering how your auto-rickshaw bill is travelling faster than light? No rocket science – here’s a simple guide to help you identify whether the Auto Rickshaw meter is faulty or not. Stay aware, identify, and complain about the faulty meters.”
ET Wealth Online spoke with Mumbai Traffic Police’s Vakola traffic police division which was responsible for creating this awareness video.
How to identify rigged meters in autos? Read what Mumbai Police says
Mumbai Traffic Police said on X that to identify whether a meter has been rigged or not simply check for a small red dot on the right side of the meter, just beside the last two decimal places. If a meter is rigged, then a small red dot will blink. If the meter is not rigged then this small dot will not be there.The image below shows the meter in normal conditions:
The image below shows the rigged meter
Sandip Janardhan Yele, Police Inspector, Vakola Traffic Division, Mumbai Traffic Police says, “We have intentionally created this awareness video by catching the fraudster duping people by rigging his auto’s meter. We have been receiving multiple complaints from passengers about them getting duped by Auto drivers due to possibly rigged meters. In this regard, Joint CP Anil Kumbhare, DCP Mitesh Ghatte and ACP Dattatray Borate decided to form an investigation unit with the aim of catching these fraudsters. This is because ordinarily, passengers, even if they feel the meter is rigged, have no way of knowing this for sure. At most, they can say this based on a hunch. So, through this awareness video, we have revealed how people can identify whether a meter is rigged or not and then file a complaint with the Police. Our investigation team has identified that these fraud auto drivers target people from outside Mumbai who may not have sufficient knowledge about the local city fares. This rigged meter gang is mostly active in the Airport area around Andheri (Santacruz, Airport T1). We have filed an FIR against the auto driver that we caught (in Vile Parle police station) for further investigation by Mumbai Police.”
“A digital metre in auto rickshaws and taxis usually works by recording the pulse received from the engine’s transmission system (it is based on the RPM). To record how much distance the vehicle has traveled the meter takes readings from a sensor. This sensor sends an electric pulse to the meter each time the vehicle travels a set distance. The distance travelled is directly related to the fare. Inside the meter, there is an integrated circuit board containing a chip containing a program and timer. The primary way to rig a meter is to alter the pulse readings. The higher the frequency of pulse being sent to the meter, the more fare can be collected,” says an owner of a meter manufacturing company.
“@MTPHereToHelp,@CMOMaharashtra, Ghatkopar to Kharghar cost to me was Rs. 1,029/- (3 times more than meter) by Auto wala. Lodged a complaint against MH03-CT-5496. Travel date- 20-09-2024 (8:30 PM) Complaint was emailed on 21-09-2024 (1:39 AM) on [email protected],” said Shailesh on X.
How to find out that the meter is rigged: Here are few tips you can follow
ET Wealth Online spoke to various experts to find out how to identify rigged auto meters.
A owner of a meter manufacturing company says, “We only manufacture and sell genuine meters. However, there are other people who offer their services of rigging original meters. In my years of experience, I saw people always found their way around meters, be it in 1967 or 2024, meters always get rigged digital or analogue. However, in digital meters, there is a good feature-buzzer beep. Each time the pulse from the engine gets transmitted to the meter and the fare gets updated in the meter, a buzzer beep sound alert comes. This sound alert is turned off by fraudsters because in rigged meters the fare gets updated frequently and if a passenger hears a continuous beep alert, he/she may get suspicious. So, they turn the sound alert off. My advice to passengers would be whenever you hop onto an auto or taxi patiently try to hear this beep alert sound, if this sound is non-existent then immediately get out of the vehicle and contact the police.”
A popular meter manufacturer from Mumbai says, “A meter can never be rigged while the vehicle is running. It is only possible to rig a meter when the vehicle is stationary. If a driver attempts to rig a meter while the vehicle is running, then the digital meter’s system will shut down and get locked. This lock can then be opened only when the driver brings the meter back to the dealer. This is also one of the ways to know that the driver committed a crime by attempting to rig the meter.”
“Earlier in Mumbai region meters used to get certified from technical colleges. Colleges used to check its authenticity by sourcing the meters before its release in the public domain. Now private companies give these certifications. These private companies lack the required motivation to check the quality of the meters. So now it’s an open field day, each manufacturer is following its own standards and auto rickshaw, and taxi owners buy the meters which can easily be rigged. I feel the government should play an active role in curbing the sale of rigged meters and may consider bringing back the system of quality checks by technical colleges. Additionally, the authenticity certification which is required on an annual basis in other states, is unusually required once in two years (biennial) in Maharashtra state,” he adds.