Mangaluru: Members of Team Green City Auto Chalaka Malakara Sangha have urged the Dakshina Kannada district administration to honour its assurance of granting city permits to all electric autorickshaws registered on or before Oct 30, 2025.Addressing reporters here Wednesday, former association president Prajesh K J alleged that permits had been processed for electric autorickshaws registered to city addresses, while applications involving vehicles registered to rural addresses and some vehicles registered in the names of women had been kept pending, citing a case before the court.He said temporary rural permits had been issued to some applicants in recent days, allowing them to operate in Mangaluru until the court pronounced its final order. However, the permits reportedly state they cannot be converted into regular city permits until the court delivers its verdict.Prajesh questioned the need for issuing temporary rural permits to vehicles operating within the city, pointing out that such permits were generally issued to tourist vehicles.He claimed autorickshaw drivers have already accepted the revised rules, including the requirement to obtain permits, restrictions on the number of vehicles and the Oct 30 cut-off date. Yet, the district administration has not offered any assurance, he alleged.Many drivers from rural areas had purchased electric autorickshaws after raising loans by pledging gold and other assets, with the intention of earning a livelihood in Mangaluru, Prajesh further said.He also questioned the condition that requires only the registered owner to drive the vehicle. He demanded that similar conditions be imposed on CNG and LPG-driven autorickshaws as well.“We were told that the existing rules for CNG and LPG vehicles were old and could not be changed. If the administration can change the rules for electric autorickshaws, why can’t the rules be changed for other vehicles?” he asked.Association president Mohandas said some electric autorickshaws were registered in the names of the drivers’ wives because the husbands had low credit scores.Mohandas further questioned the circulation of lists bearing vehicle numbers and addresses of electric autorickshaw operators. He alleged that outsiders and members of other autorickshaw unions were checking these lists at RTOs. He demanded to know whether these people were authorised to run such chcks.The association has appealed to the district administration to expand charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. It also sought clarity on the status of vehicles purchased by families before the one-vehicle-per-person rule was introduced.
