Bengaluru (PTI): In a crackdown against autorickshaws overcharging and plying illegally, Karnataka transport department authorities on Monday registered 260 cases and seized 98 vehicles.
The action came days after state Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy directed the transport commissioner to take strict action against app-based and other autorickshaws in Bengaluru that charge fares above the government-fixed rates, calling the practice a "daylight robbery".
In a letter dated June 28, the minister said the permits of such autorickshaws should be cancelled and cases registered against the violators.
"In Bengaluru city, a drive was launched against autorickshaws charging more than the fare fixed by the government and against autorickshaws plying illegally from 8 am on June 30," a transport department official said.
He said the drive was conducted after forming 22 special investigation teams for the purpose -- two each from all the regional transport offices in the city.
There have been complaints from commuters about rising autorickshaw fares. The meter fare is fixed at Rs 30 for the first 1.9 km and Rs 15 for every additional kilometre.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
New Delhi(PTI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday criticised the government’s move to ban online money gaming, warning that such a step would only push the industry underground and strengthen criminal networks.
He also said he had not studied the three Constitution amendment bills seeking to provide a framework for the removal of prime ministers, Union ministers, chief ministers and state ministers detained on serious criminal charges in any detail.
“On the face of it, it is difficult to say it has any problem, but obviously if anyone does something wrong they should not be a minister anyway. I don’t know if there is any other motive,” he remarked.
Discussing the bill seeking to prohibit and regulate online gaming introduced in the Lok Sabha, he said, "I had written a very long article on the argument that by banning online gaming we are simply driving it underground, whereas it could be a useful source of revenue for the government if we legalise it, regulate it and tax it."
He added that many countries have studied the issue in detail and concluded that regulation and taxation can generate funds for social causes, while bans merely enrich “criminal mafias”.
In a post on X, Tharoor recalled that he had “gone on record in 2018 urging the government to legalise, regulate and tax online gaming, rather than drive it underground by banning it, which will merely enhance the profits of the mafia”.
“It’s a pity that the government seems to have derived no lessons from the experience of other countries that have considered this issue,” he wrote.
He added that the bill should at least have been referred to a parliamentary committee “to consider all the pros and cons before rushing it into law”.
The proposed bill prohibits online money gaming and its advertisements, prescribing imprisonment or fines, or both, for violators. It differentiates such games from eSports and online social games, while calling for their promotion.
1/2 I went on record in 2018 urging the government to legalise, regulate and tax online gaming, rather than drive it underground by banning it, which will merely enhance the profits of the mafia. https://t.co/KYi2aTxDQQ
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 20, 2025