KARACHI: Though similar campaigns ended unsuccessfully in past years, the authorities in the city and the Sindh transport ministry have planned to enforce the law `effectively` to ensure that the sea of rickshaws and cabs in the city have proper fare meters installed in their vehicles, it emerged on Saturday.

Ofñcials said the transport ministry and the traffic police had planned to launch a campaign against tens of thousands of rickshaws and taxicabs being plied without fare meters for years a gross violation of law.

They referred to recent criticism of members of the Sindh Assembly against the government saying rickshaws and taxis in Karachi were being run without fare meters and described Karachi as the worst city of the world regarding commuters` rights and urban public transport facilities.

Critics have been of the view that from commuters travelling on rooftop of buses to meter-less taxis and rickshaws, the city depicted a sorry picture of the performance of the provincial transport ministry.

The opposition members in the provincial legislature expressed serious concern on the violation of public transport rules in Karachi and demanded that the transport ministry take serious action.

Officials in the ministry said they were devising action against the owners of taxis and rickshaws which were run without fare meters. Minister Mumtaz Jakhrani said heavy fines had been recovered from the violators.

They said Section 53 of the Motor Vehicle Ordinance, 1965 and Section 124 of the Motor Vehicle Rules, 1969, unmistakably stated that the installation of fare meters in motor rickshaws was compulsory.

As a matter of fact, people and experts said, such meters had almost disappeared from rickshaws and taxis in the city where tens of thousands of people used this transport service to travel from one place to another.

The traffic police had launched similar campaigns previously in which the violators were fined as well, however, they failed to revive the cultureof fare meters in the city.

`Now,` said a commuter, `we even don`t see rigged meters in rickshaws.

He said the traffic police were ignoring such violations of the law, which, in fact, were encouraging drivers to keep fleecing travellers.

Critics said outdated government policy had exacerbated the problem.

The last time the provincial government fixed the fare rate for rickshaws was in 2002 when it was set at nine rupees per kilometre.

And, even those few ones who had meters in their vehicles had conveniently altered them to charge more.

A rickshaw driver conceded that with just Rs500 one could get a rickshaw meter altered and earn almost double to what they should charge to passengers.

Sources said a rickshaw meter should have a No.13 gearwheel which rotated with the movement of the speedometer. But, the drivers used No.14 gearwheel which moved as fast as double to the legal one.

Leaders of the taxi rickshaw association blamed the government for not fixing new rates for their vehicles for 14 years, which forced them to charge as per their fuel expenditure now.

A previous campaign against ricl(shaws and taxis without meters was carried out two years ago in which hundreds of ricle shaws and taxis were fined for several years.

However, everything got back to normal after a few days and fewer rickshaws were seen to get fare meters installed.

However, drivers like Khadim Hussain are rare who feel happy with plying a rickshaw with a fare meter.

`It is in fact a better choice, he said. `Now my meter negotiates with passengers and help me spare from daily altercations I used to do previously.

The city has more than 200,000 ricl(shaws and thousands of taxicabs. It is not just fare meters, which have been removed from the three-wheelers. Officially, graffiti on the rickshaw body and extra mirrors are banned, yet they are visible on them.

And, everyone rightly blames on the transport ministry and the traffic police, which are responsible to enforce the law.