Registration of e-rickshaws: BJP's Suvendu asks owners not to pay state-quoted fees

Kolkata, Oct 14 (PTI) Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday called upon e-rickshaw owners not to pay a single paisa to the West Bengal government for registering their three-wheelers, terming the amount fixed by the state as "steep for the poor." Addressing a press meet at the BJP office here, he alleged the state government was trying to fleece the over 5 lakh e-rickshaw (locally called toto) owners by asking them to cough up Rs 1,000 for one-time registration fee and Rs 100 as monthly taxes.

The Leader of Opposition in the state assembly also claimed that the move by the Mamata Banerjee administration was aimed at collecting funds ahead of next year's assembly elections.

Accusing the TMC government of abolishing a large number of permanent posts in the School Service Commission (SSC) and the Public Service Commission (PSC) in West Bengal, he said the present bleak employment scenario in the state forced educated youths to opt for jobs as e-rickshaw drivers.

"Many of these e-rickshaw drivers have qualifications like MA and BA. As the Mamata Banerjee government has made West Bengal a graveyard of industries, these people are left with no job and running their vehicles for 15-16 hours to eke out a living," Adhikari claimed.

The BJP leader asked them not to fall in line.

"This incompetent and corrupt state government has abolished a large number of permanent posts in SSC and PSC since 2011, drying up even the meagre job opportunities of the educated youth," he alleged.

Smelling a deep-rooted conspiracy against e-rickshaw drivers to fleece them by the state transport department, Adhikari claimed that the move to register the vehicles against the two types of fees is aimed at extracting money before the next assembly polls.

"We have nothing to say if there is a transparent bid to regulate the movement of totos, but why should the marginalised, poor people be forced to cough up huge amounts of money?" he commented.

As per the transport department notification last week, the process for registering the vehicles under the Temporary Toto Enrollment Number (TTEN) started on October 13 and would end on November 30.

Adhikari said the one time payment should also be scaled down substantially while the monthly fee should be done away with.

The BJP leader called upon those plying such vehicles not to pay any money to the government already saddled with Rs 8 lakh crore as debt.

"This government is already mobilising revenue from 20,000 liquor shops as all other established routes and sources have become non-existent in West Bengal," he said.

He said during his stint as the transport minister in 2018-19, 3.5 lakh totos used to ply in Bengal and the figure must have officially reached the 5 lakh now.

"The actual number of totos must be far higher and the state should not leave them bleeding by forcing them to cough up with an astronomical amount," said Adhikari who defected from the TMC to the BJP ahead of the last assembly elections.

The CM should help these marginalised people and waive all these fines and maintenance fees, he said.

Such decisions raise misgivings about swelling coffers of the ruling party, the BJP leader claimed.

TMC spokesperson Trinankur Bhattacharya described Adhikari's statement as an attempt to incite the e-rickshaw drivers against an administrative move to regulate the services of unregistered vehicles. PTI SUS NN