Meters to be made mandatory for all 3-wheelers

20 June 2015 02:34 am

Electronic taxi meters will be made mandatory for all three-wheelers soon, and steps will be taken to ensure that all meters are maintained at a proper standard.

An official of the the Measurement Units Standards and Services Department (MUSSD) told Daily Mirror yesterday that regulations to verify the accuracy of taxi meters would be introduced after the proposed gazette notification making meters mandatory for three-wheelers.

However trade union action by three-wheeler operators may stall efforts to make meters mandatory, Daily Mirror learns.

MUSSD Acting Director K. Premasiri Kumara said none of the meters being used currently had been approved by them because they lacked the the technical ability to verify the accuracy of meters.

“There are several kinds of electronic meters used by drivers and some of them can be adjusted. So some drivers cheat the public by overcharging them. We want all meters to be brought to one standard," Mr. Kumara said.

He said the MUSSD had got two new taxi-meter testing machines, and these would be used to measure the accuracy of taxi meters after being subject to some tests themselves.

Mr. Kumara said the testing programme had commenced earlier, but had come to standstill due to a lack of funds. (Piyumi Fonseka)