Complaints about unscrupulous autorickshaw drivers who fleece passengers by refusing to use the meter increase by the day, especially after the petrol price hike, but the police says, surprisingly, that there are no complaints. Autorickshaw drivers’ unions want a revision in the minimum fare and the per-kilometre fare. Meanwhile, the drivers charge between 30-50 per cent extra for every journey. Even on the rare occasions when commuters are charged according to the meter, commuters say these are tampered with and show more kilometres than the actual distance travelled.
“I have to shell out double the amount I did just a couple of months back. The drivers vehemently refuse to follow the meter even when they are threatened with a police complaint,” said Varsha P., a passenger. Of the 1.15 lakh autorickshaws plying on the city’s roads only 30 per cent depend on petrol and an estimated 60-65 per cent on gas. Nevertheless, auto unions defend the drivers saying that since the petrol price hike, they are struggling to survive.
“The petrol price has been hiked three to four times in the recent past but the fare has not been raised accordingly. We have been demanding that the minimum fare be raised from the current Rs 14 to Rs 24. Also we want the per kilometre rate to be raised from Rs 8 to Rs 12. About a month back, the price of gas was also hiked by Rs 5.32 and with the increasing cost of auto spare parts, it is becoming difficult for us to survive,” said A. Sathi Reddy, general secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Auto Drivers Samakhya defending what is a clearly an indefensible action.