New ride on the block! Thane's 'Ho rickshaws' will not refuse your fare

Pissed off with the nth autorickshaw driver saying no to you? The Thane traffic police and RTO have come up with a novel plan to try and ensure you get a ride without much trouble - a new campaign called 'Ho Rickshaw'. Rickshaw drivers who say yes to passengers every day will be felicitated by a local publication and also get free groceries.

According to the Thane traffic police, the campaign is being launched under their TAP (Traffic Awareness Programme). Officers said the increasing bad attitude and repeated refusal of rickshaw drivers to ply inspired them to do this.

DCP (traffic) Amit Kale said, "The aim is to bring rickshaw drivers to say 'Ho' from no. The initiative is supported by Apna Bhandar, Thane RTO and traffic police and Ascend Adcom. I think this campaign can motivate at least some rickshaw drivers to change their attitude. "We will launch it in the first week of June. Our sponsors have provided stickers to be put on rickshaws according to their [plying] distance pattern."

The sticker that will be pasted on the autorickshaws

Sources said these stickers will be put on the rickshaws of participating drivers, thereby ensuring that those drivers can't refuse anyone to ply. If any of these drivers says no to a citizen, the person can call up the Thane RTO or on the dedicated helpline, which will be set up soon, and lodge a complaint. Daily, five among those accepting all fares throughout the day will be selected and felicitated.

Nikhil Ballal, one of the sponsors and the brains behind the campaign, which will be conducted for a year, said, "So many times, rickshaw drivers say no to people, even if it's a senior citizen or a pregnant woman. We thought if we give them some incentives, they might change their attitude.

"We will distribute stickers to rickshaw drivers that say 'I will never say No to the passenger'. We will felicitate five best ones every day and give them free groceries provided by Apna Bhandar. Whichever driver we receive a complaint against will be out of the campaign, and action will be taken against him as per traffic and RTO rules."