NOIDA: Commuters travelling towards Delhi had a tough time on Monday as a section of autorickshaw drivers went off the road with their NCR permits expiring on October 13. These drivers even stopped their Delhi counterparts from entering Noida at a few places, causing inconvenience to commuters.Though officials say the previous NCR reciprocal agreement has been extended for another six months, the drivers continue to be a worried lot in the absence of any written communication.Noida Auto-rickshaw Chalak Association (NARCA) said that Delhi traffic police have been issuing challans to Noida auto drivers with NCR permits. “At least 15 of our autorickshaw drivers were challaned on Sunday for ferrying passengers to the national capital,” Lal Babu, president of NARCA, told TOI.Around 10am on Monday, some members of NARCA reached the Sector 37 crossing and the turn towards Sector 14 near the Indian Oil intersection and started stopping their counterparts holding Delhi permits from ferrying Noida commuters. Although the drivers were non-violent, commuters had to face problems as they were offloaded.Pappu Rai and his two friends, who work in a private company in Delhi, hired an auto for Patel Chowk metro station from near the Indian Oil intersection. However, as a group of UP NCR permit holders arrived at the spot, auto driver Abhyas Yadav refused to ferry them. “Delhi traffic police might issue a challan as my permit has expired. I can’t take the risk,” Abhyas said.These drivers then went to the SP (traffic) Anil Jha and the ARTO (enforcement) Himesh Tiwari, asking them to issue challans against the drivers from Delhi, who have been lining the Noida-Delhi borders. “When our drivers are being challaned, the drivers from Delhi should be challaned too as the agreement has lapsed,” Abhyas said.Some drivers later protested at the ARTO (office), Sector 32, demanding that the transport department start taking action against Delhi NCR permit holders entering Noida.While the traffic police said that they did not have any written communication from the transport department on the validity of the permits of the NCR auto drivers from Delhi, the transport department is still waiting for a go ahead for any action against these drivers from the senior officials.RTO (Ghaziabad) Ajay Tripathi said the NCR Planning Board is in the process of renewing the agreement for another six months.

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