Drivers and owners, however, sought more time for the task since they think the given time is too short and the number of meter supplying companies is too few.

Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) Traffic Department in a meeting with the leaders of concerned owners and drivers associations on January 28 gave an ultimatum for operating CNG-run auto-rickshaws with meters from February 3.

In the meeting CMP DC (Traffic) Abu Sufian made it clear that stern action would be taken against any CNG-run auto-rickshaw that would ply in the city streets without meters from February 4.

However, out of six enlisted companies, at present there are only two - Crystal Agencies at Dewanhat and Standard Limited at Badurtala area- to provide the three wheelers with meters and accessories required for repairing the damaged ones.

With the two companies making supply of meters and accessories for around 120 vehicles a day, many are failing to install or repair their meters even after several hours' of waiting in long queue, said the sources.

Sohel Khondokar, office executive of Crystal Agencies, said they repaired some 200 meters in the last three days.

Zakir Hossain, a driver waiting in a queue at Crystal Agencies, told this correspondent that he had been waiting in the queue for over nine hours since 3:00am while it was likely to take him three more hours to get the meter repaired.

Partha Chowdhury, who owned three CNG auto-rickshaws, alleged that the meters he bought from a company became out of order only after a few months of the installation.

He said that he did not repair them before, as his drivers did not face any drive by traffic department so far.