Cuttack, Aug. 11: Police today penalised 102 autorickshaw drivers here as part of a special drive to enforce discipline among them.

The cops launched the drive from the busy Bajrakabati Road here and slapped fines of Rs 100 each for carrying too many passengers, driving without licences and other necessary documents.

They will shortly extend the drive across prominent city routes.

Bajrakabati Road is a major route, which is used by hundreds of autorickshaws to ferry passengers from the railway station and College Square to SCB Medical College and Hospital, Dolmundai, Badambadi, and other destinations.

The drive forced several autorickshaw drivers to change their route to escape traffic officials. This caused trouble for some passengers, especially those who intended to travel toward Badambadi from College Square.

Despite the trouble that they faced today, commuters have welcomed the crackdown on errant autorickshaw drivers who drive rashly and do not follow rules for the safety of the passengers.

"This drive was necessary to check rash driving and other violations. We will be happy if the cops ensure that only autorickshaw drivers wearing proper uniforms and identity cards are allowed to ferry passengers," said daily commuter Dilip Moharana.

"We have collected Rs 10,200 in fines and we will conduct similar activities weekly on the prominent routes," said assistant commissioner of police (traffic) P.K. Dalai.

Senior police officials said they had found that most autorickshaw drivers were not wearing identity cards or carrying the documents of their vehicles, which was important to ensure passenger security.

The police have issued identity cards to nearly 1,500 autorickshaw drivers in the city after proper verification and the owners have been asked to put up a sticker bearing the driver's name, mobile number and vehicle registration number.

The identity cards are still being issued through autorickshaw associations and the cops expect the process to be completed by the end of the year.

Police officials said they were taking measures to ensure that autorickshaw drivers wore sky blue colour uniform, which was finalised by the traffic management committee this year.

The 15 autorickshaws associations in different parts of the city have been also issued with special alpha-numeric codes for easy identification of autorickhaws from March this year.