Aye, auto!

(image source: www.entecity.com) 

It is very intriguing that auto drivers in Madras {Chennai} (and this extends to a lot of places in Tamil Nadu) have, for decades, run their own fiefdom with impunity. I have used autorickshaw services in many places in India - primarily the four southern states, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi, Bengal, amongst others.

There are places where autos do not ply with the meter on at times - in Hyderabad and Bangalore, for example, I have had to pay routinely a negotiated rate despite the presence of meters in autos - but I observed that the negotiated rate does not require hard bargaining; the auto driver does not start at Rs.300 and come down to Rs.150, which is indeed a commentary on the frivolousness of the quote made earlier. Once you have travelled the distance, there is the sub-conscious telling you that though you have not paid by the meter, you have not been ripped off.

I remember that even during the old days of mechanical meters when autos in Madras indeed used to ply by the meter, the meter would be “heated up” (wound) to ensure that it jumps at shorter distances. After a point of time when people started complaining about the meters, the drivers started asking for fixed rates. With the mushrooming of auto driver unions where the ruling and the opposition parties with the highest strengths (read: Dravidian parties) would invariably be a part of, the going by the meter slowly became an extinct practice.

Once you got out of Madras Central or Madras Egmore, the biggest hassle would be a haggle with the auto drivers. They would demand ridiculously astronomical amounts for even the shortest of distances and you did not have a choice as they invariably formed a cartel. The situation inside the city would be no better, particularly where you have “stand autos” - autos that would occupy a road in particular area, forming a mini-union with a list of office bearers et al and controlling the price.

The worst part about autos in Madras, which the drivers themselves do not understand (or do not want to understand) is that instead of driving 10 kms for Rs.200 and sitting idle for the rest of the day for want of a negotiated rate, if one plies by the meter, you can get more trips and earn significantly higher amounts. (A trip from Alwarpet to the Madras airport at Meenambakkam Z(around 15 kms) costs Rs.180 odd by the meter, but if one calls an auto, they would, at the least, demand Rs.250/- - in most cases Rs.300/-) Petrol price rise, increase in prices of essential commodities like milk were the sob stories which drivers would cry their hearts out to passengers, as justifications for not plying by the meter. This, when the meter rates were fixed when oil prices were at their highest and are tellingly low as compared to when they were fixed.

The AIADMK Government, for the first time, under a lot of pressure from the Courts and media driven campaigns notified a rate card system in the city. A lot of credit to the Government for bringing meters back; it was something the average Madras citizen never even thought of in his wildest dream. Enforcement petered out after a period of time. Enforcement has to be learnt from a small neighbour like Kerala.

So today you have autos with electronic meters that do not use them. What I do is that I wait for that auto which is ready to ply by the meter - the going rate is generally Rs.20 more than the meter. So like the example I gave above, I will still end up paying Rs.200 for a trip from Alwarpet to Meenambakkam rather than Rs.250–300, which would have been the negotiated rate.

The increase in private transport, mushrooming of share cab/autos, call taxis and call autos themselves have created a dent in the income of the autos and have challenged the might of their once impregnable kingdom. Public awareness and activism is not like Bangalore, but it did do something in getting the meter system in place. It is just that citizens are not insisting the same.

The reasons for the auto drivers in Madras behaving like creatures from another planet are not far to find. It is a habit nurtured right from the time an auto driver touches the handlebar for the first time. It is in their blood. They just do not know any other way. They have simply not used the meter. It is a thrill ripping off people day in and day out. Inside the driver knows that he has charged much more for a trip than what it would merit. Who would not want to earn more than what you deserve, when someone is willing to pay that much?

While this is appalling, citizens need to show the way. Only citizens. The Government has done its bit by formulating a rate. Why can’t you ply by it? As a citizen, simply refuse to take things lying down. Yes. Refuse two-three autos. You will get one who will ply by the meter. Many, sorry, most of them still negotiate rates and use the autos. Once I waited for ten minutes to ply by an auto driver who would use the meter. Imagine if a lot of citizens, and over time, all the citizens do this. In Bombay, for example, citizens do not negotiate because there is simply no scope for negotiation. Except for railway stations and airports where you can get ripped off, one can just get into the auto and the first thing the driver does will be to turn on the meter.

Unfortunately, persons like me are too less and that is a lopsided number of people who just don’t care. So over a period of time, the good work done by the Government in bringing back meters would go waste.

Negotiation is not something that is part of public transport. If you have the licence to ply, then play by the rules.

Will you, as a citizen, do your bit? It is easy. Try!