While some pre-paid auto stands wait for a formal revision of fares, others have begun hiking fares themselves.
A day after the steep hike in petrol prices, commuters resigned themselves to the blow on their monthly budgets and stepped out of their houses, anxious about how difficult the daily commute would be. While the heat kept many people in their homes in the afternoon on Thursday, by evening, the streets swelled with vehicles.
Many motorists had filled their tanks with petrol on Wednesday night, hoping to save a little before the hike. While many petrol bunks received barely any patronage even during the peak hours, a petrol bunk in Meenambakkam received quite a large number of vehicles.
T. Govindarajan, an auto driver, resting a tree on G.N. Chetty Road around 3.30 p.m., said he had made only Rs. 200 since morning. “I ask for Rs.10 more but if they don't pay, I cannot refuse ,” he said.
At the prepaid auto rickshaw stand in Central Station, the attendant said they were charging the usual rates. “They have come and collected the details of rates we collect now. Maybe in two or three days, we will get the new fares. But until then, the old rates will hold well,” he said.
A couple of women who hired an auto rickshaw from Beach Station refused to pay Rs. 60, which the auto driver asked, for a trip to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. “We have been paying only Rs. 40 so far. So why would we pay more,” the woman commuter asked.
Late in the evening, Jenisha waited at a bus stop near Vivekananda House with eight children in tow increasingly worried as it was getting late. She flagged down several auto rickshaws hoping to find someone willing to take her Alandur. One driver quoted Rs. 250 while another said Rs. 350. One of the children piped up, “We should have taken the first auto itself. Even a trip up to Guindy is okay,” she appealed to the driver of another auto rickshaw.
A co-commuter said, “Now that they have hiked the price of petrol, even those with the means would hesitate to get into an auto rickshaw. How can people like us, with little means, even think of it now?
Keywords: Petrol price hike, auto fares
Life of commuters and service providers can be made easier with few
simple methods. 1) Uniform system of fare through proper metering. 2)
Enforcement of metering system with dispute resolution procedures.
3)Division of cities into Zones. 4) Fixed pricing within Zones 5) Fixed
pricing between the set of zones.
@Raj - that was the most insensitive comment one can ever see.
I wonder whether this gentleman has ever tried to walk a km in
Chennai - even in Anna Salai. It is not Canada, not USA. It is
really unsafe to walk even in Sardar Patel Road where there is a
sidewalk.
And bicycling with 8 kids as reported in the news, performing
circus acts? If we bicycle (I did that from Tiruvanmiyur to
Thousand Lights) not only ones risk being killed/injured (no
helmet for cyclists required & even with helmets broken bones are
not fun) but one also puts the two-wheelers at risk. And with the
RIGHT TURNS - it is a night mare. And cyclists slow the traffic
down, face all kinds of curses from every other motorist. It takes
longer, no protection from rain, pollution.
One really despises folks who live in foreign lands opine on
Indian conditions from their AirConditioned rooms with 4 cars on
driveways.
It always amazes me how the fares increase well beyond the price of fuel going up! If there is a 5 rupee increase in the price of petrol, the increase in demanded fare goes up by 20 rupees, even if the fuel consumed is well within a litre for the journey of a few kilometres! LPG autos should have no right demand a higher fare either, but they will.
leave alone the madras sorry chennai. one should know what is fare the autos charge in coimbatore it is worth guessing. from railway station to RSpuram, it is 90 rupees to 100 rupees . check it up with the residents in around coimbatore city. their fleecing is limitless.
Not all auto-drivers are fleecing their customers; it is the price of the fuel that makes their business a very tough proposition! I had the opportunity to talk to many of them and I see that it is very hard for them to make a few quid margin in their rides. We also read the grunts of the car and the two wheel owners complain the same. All of us have the very same issue; it is the cost of that gasoline or diesel that is hurting our pockets; our commute has become a problem. Usually problems have solutions, but here we see a blank wall before us. We need to use our legs more, bicycle around to do our errands and when there is no other way then hop on to your motor vehicles! Try judging between necessary and unnecessary commutes and avoid the ones that’s not required.
There is no fault on the autos to charge more with the existing petrol
prices. Government of Tamil Nadu should convene a meeting with all the
trade unions of autos in the State to fix the revised fare at the
earliest. The earlier fare was revised in 2009.
@Syed: true that its a pain gettin an auto only in Chennai... but the problem is most of these autos are owned by cops and politicos... so they will never find a solution to this common man's pain
we have to live with it...unless all these guys turn good overnight like we see in movies.
The arguments with Auto rickshaws drivers is a long time concern particularly in Chennai city. I am not sure whether the Govt. has taken the steps to resolve the arguments over auto fare by implementing powerful rules. We are hearing something from the Govt. hardly ever to overcome the issue but not sure whether they are really helping the commuters. The problem is continuing only at Chennai and not in neighbouring State cities like Bangalore, Trivandrum & Hyderabad. Hence care needs to be taken to control the auto fare by implementing a process in a such a way that it will help both commuters and also auto drivers.
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