GPS tracking may be mandatory for every auto-rickshaw soon

Auto-rickshaws without functional GPS devices will soon not be issued fitness certificates, without which they cannot legally ply in Delhi, officials in the transport department said reviving the policy four years after it was paused due to the global pandemic.

- Alok KN Mishra

NEW DELHI: "GPS (global positioning system) devices are installed in all of Delhi's 90,000 autos, but are functional in just about one-tenth of them. We will soon make functional devices mandatory to ensure passenger safety," said a Delhi transport department official who asked not to be named.

When asked, transport minister Kailash Gahlot did not comment on the matter.

The move is likely to get some pushback from Delhi's 90,000odd auto drivers, many of whom said installing the devices will impose an "unnecessary compliance burden" and force them to make a recurring expense that will eat into their income.

Investigations after the blast at the Israel embassy in Delhi on December 26 last year underlined the importance of GPS (global positioning system) devices in autos, said police and state government officials, revealing that satellite data helped officers zero in on the auto-rickshaw used by the suspect around the time of the explosion.