At least eight commuters raise complaints against auto rickshaw drivers and taxi driver every day over the official Whatsapp number and the email ID, Regional Transport Office authorities have revealed. Since the Whatsapp number 9152240303and email ID mh03autotaxicomplaint@gmail.com for registering complaints were opened to public in July, the Wadala RTO authorities received over 1300 complaints till November. The authorities found enough merit to cancel the license in 485 cases, said Mumbai Regional Transport Officer Vinay Ahire. Most of the complaints were related to rickshaw taxi drivers charging more than metered fares, rude behaviour, and refusing the ride. Ahire said that most number of complaints were received from Ghatkopar and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus in Kurla.For Govandi resident Meena Sawant, it was a revelation that such a simple mechanism for complaining against auto and taxi trivers even existed. “I never knew that there was one such number or that a driver could be penalised. I have been refused a ride so many number of times,” she said. Thane resident Usha Desai was aware of the number, but has not tried it yet.“ After receiving a complaint, we locate the driver, send a show cause notice to listen to the driver’s side. We verify the evidence provided by the complainant and then, based on the severity of the offence, we make the decision to either suspend or cancel the license. The complainant is sent the action taken report,' Ahire said. Saheblal Patel, an autorickshaw driver from Ghatkopar said the initiative by RTO was a good one. “I understand why there are more complaints from Ghatkopar. Traffic here is extreme and very busy so several drivers are reluctant to ply here,” he said. A taxi driver, who didn’t wish to be named, said that several drivers still worked despite suspension or cancellation of licenses since this is the only source of income for most of them. Ahire said the RTO officers followed due diligence before inflicting punishments. “In most cases, we act only when we find that the culprit is a serial offender,” he said.