There was a demand from various quarters for commencement of Prepaid Auto service at Secunderabad Railway Station since a long time. The authorities of South Central Railway also requested the Hyderabad Traffic Police for commencement of Prepaid Auto System on either side of Secunderabad Railway Station for the convenience of the passengers. In this regard, several meetings were conducted with Auto Unions and Auto drivers and they agreed for introducing Prepaid Auto System at Secunderabad Railway Station.
A committee consisting of representatives of Hyderabad Traffic Police, representatives of Auto unions, RTA authorities, MMTS Travelers group and Indian Railway Fan club prepared the Auto Fare Chart for various distances. After that, the Traffic police have sent a proposal to Transport Department to issue a G.O. for fixing the Prepaid Auto/Taxi fares. Accordingly, the Government of Andhra Pradesh has issued a G.O. vide G.O.Ms.No.82 dt: 22-06-2011 of Transport, Roads & Buildings (TR-I) Department. The G.O. authorized Hyderabad Traffic Police to erect Prepaid Auto/Taxi booths at Secunderabad Railway station and also to collect a maximum service charge of Rs.2/- per each transaction from passenger. Addl.Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Hyderabad was authorized to form a Core Committee/Governing Body, accordingly a Core Committee/Governing Body is formed on 24-06-2011.
It was also mentioned in the G.O., that if the traffic police cannot maintain the prepaid booths, it will be entrusted to any private agency on tender basis. In this regard, open tenders are called for, for erection and maintenance of Prepaid Auto/Taxi booths at Secunderabad Railway Station vide Tender Notification No.Tr.T7/2596/2011, dt: 05-07-2011, which was published in Eenadu , The Times of India and Milap news papers. In this regard, two Tender Applications were received. The Technical bid was opened on 19-07-2011 at 4 PM in the presence of Tender Committee Members, bidders and the Addl.Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Hyderabad. After scrutiny of Technical bids, both the bidders were considered and qualified to participate in financial bid. Accordingly, the financial bids were opened on 27-07-2011 at 1.00 p.m. in the presence of Tender Committee, members and representatives of two bidders. The first bidder i.e. Harshavardhana Industrial Security services has quoted 11% and second bidder Sri K.S. Babu Rao & Son has quoted 33.3 % of the total income ( revenue from Rs.2/- service charges + revenue from Advertisements) .
The tender is allotted to K.S. Babu Rao & Sons, as he has quoted highest rate of percentage of revenue, which he is expected to get during running of Pre paid auto booth. The above income is to be deposited in a separate account and the amount is proposed to be used for the future development of prepaid auto booths / welfare of auto drivers etc. Now, the qualified contractor has erected three prepaid auto booths on either side of Secunderabad Railway Station. Distances of various destinations from Secunderabad Railway station are calculated and the software for printing the fare and tickets based on distances was developed. At present trial runs are being made to check the loop holes in software and make it fool proof.
