Auto services resumed in Calcutta on Wednesday. Most auto drivers charged double the fare and many ferried three passengers in violation of the government rule of two.

Auto operators justified charging double the fare, saying it was to compensate for the reduction in the number of passengers.

The fare on the Ultadanga-Sovabazar route was Rs 30 for every passenger on Wednesday. It used to be Rs 16 before the lockdown.

It was the same on many other routes. Autos on the Kasba-New Market-Dhakuria route charged Rs 25. Earlier, it was Rs 13. On the Behala Chowrasta-New Alipore route, auto drivers charged Rs 30. It was Rs 16 earlier.

A few of the autos that ferried passengers between Ruby and Gariahat charged Rs 20. The fare before the lockdown was Rs 12.

Tapan Bandopadhayay, of the Joint Council of Bus Syndicates, said the government had rejected the fare structure proposed by bus operators. “But does it mean there will be no more discussions on fare revision at all?” he asked. “When has the government agreed to implement any of our proposals for a fare hike without making changes?”

Unlike bus and taxi fares, the government doesn’t regulate auto fares, a transport department official said. Auto unions fix fares on a particular route, depending on the number of autos and the length of the route, the official said.

People across parts of south and north Calcutta did not get into argument with auto drivers over the fare hike.

“We alerted passengers about the new fare before starting a trip (Rs 15 against Rs 9),” Purna Chandra Pradhan, 52, an auto driver on the Gariahat-Rashbehari Avenue crossing route, said. “No one complained. Some even said they were aware of the realities of the lockdown and paid the new fare with a smile.”

At several parts of Calcutta, a few autos carried more than two passengers. At Gariahat, traffic constables stopped some auto drivers and asked them to keep sanitisers ready for passengers.

Most auto drivers had masks but hardly anyone wore gloves. Some auto drivers had sanitisers for passengers. A few said they had washed and cleaned their vehicles before setting out.

“We have told every auto driver to carry hand sanitisers for passengers. A few may have missed out,” an auto union leader on the Sovabazar-Ultadanga route said on Wednesday.

Close to 800 autos ply on the route. “Everything will be in place from tomorrow,” the union leader said.