What has caught the attention of the checking squads is the misuse of autorickshaws by the octroi evaders who use the three-seaters for transporting goods. ``They flout the Motor Vehicles Act which allows autorickshaws only for ferrying passengers,'' additional municipal commissioner Deepak Kapoor said, adding that he had complained to the RTO to cancel licences if rickshawmen fell prey to immediate gains through such deviant behaviour.

Kapoor said that he would soon write to the leaders of the autorickshaw unions Baba Adhav and Nana Kshirsagar regarding the flouting of rules by the drivers and to take measures to keep them in check. He said that such misuse of autorickshaws came to light when the squad seized a consignment of three big boxes of 182 mts of woollen suitings of OCM, Woollen mills, Amritsar being delivered to Men's Avenue shop at Laxmi Road. The goods were being transported in an autorickshaw MH 12 QA 4140 when the squad intercepted the vehicle at Race Course.

A compounding fee of Rs 35,000 was slapped on the evaders who even undervalued the original price of the suiting to Rs 128 per metre. Kapoor said that the suitings according to the market price should not cost less than at least Rs 400 per metre. However not only has the price been fixed at Rs 128 per metre, but octroi charges have not been cleared.

Refusing to charge octroi on a ridiculously low price - the cloth as per the Rs 128 per metre estimated to a total of 60,000. However after the squad found out the market rate, the cloth costs at least Rs 1.20 lakh. Subsequently a compounding fee of Rs 35,000 was recovered.