Auto meters not for the faint-hearted in Hyderabad

Auto drivers in Hyderabad are turning tormentors thriving on the blood and hard earned money of general public like leeches. On one pretext or the other auto unions will go on strike showing hell in real life to people. As if this is not enough, when RTC buses go on strike, auto drivers will have a free run robbing people. Most of the time they do not operate on meters and even if they operate, the meter’s digits triples or quadruples within split seconds shocking people. Only brave hearts can survive such shocks.

With more than 16 unions in the state and more than 50,000 autos plying in the city, people are at the mercy of auto drivers. This is due to unscheduled bus timings, non stopping of buses at scheduled points and frequency of buses. Due to this many prefer to reach their destinations on their own in auto or travel by share autos. Auto drivers select important days and festive occasions to strike people hard. Last couple of years saw auto unions doing strikes protesting atrocities of police, demanding hike in fare and other reasons.

The auto drivers started the New Year 2014 on a high note with 16 auto unions going on strike just after Sankranthi. They gave a call for indefinite strike demanding that the government scrap the GO 108 which revised traffic penalties. They are also demanding hike in auto fares. Telangana Auto Drivers’ Joint Action Committee convener Mohd Amanullah Khan said “The minimum auto fare in Chennai is Rs 25 and Rs 12 for a kilometre thereafter. In Bangalore the minimum is Rs 20 and Rs 11 for every km thereafter. But in Hyderabad the minimum fare is Rs 16 and Rs 9 for every kilometre thereafter.”

If you are wondering if it was only the Telangana unions on strike, even Seemandhra auto unions too have joined them. Telangana and Seemandhra unions who earlier participated in pro and anti- Telengana agitations respectively too have joined hands this time. A Sathi Reddy, general secretary of AP Auto Drivers Samakhya, said “The government should replace e-challan with spot challan immediately and increase the minimum fare to Rs 25 from the existing Rs 16.”

Auto drivers act as if they are the only honest lot in the world filled with corrupt people. They speak of atrocities of police and increase in petrol prices and how their owners torture them etc. But when questioned why they oppose digital metres they don't have an answer. When questioned why they don't turn on meters, they claim meters installed by RTA were substandard and non functional. They don't carry revised fare tariffs and for even 1/2KM distance they demand Rs 100. They remain extremely unfriendly and even charge for luggage carried forgetting the fact that people board autos only if they have heavy luggage. To top it, they act as if they don't know the local language Telugu in order to take innocent commuters for a ride. Growing molestation attempts too put a question mark on the credibility of auto drivers.

People recollect how auto drivers are robbing them with their exorbitant demands. It is a rarity to find an auto driver who agrees to turn on the meter. The non-compliance with the rules, which was earlier restricted for distances less than 5 km, can now be seen even when travelling long distances. Currently, auto drivers demand a flat rate of Rs 150-180 from Marredpally to Banjara Hills, when the meter fare would not even be Rs 100.

The auto drivers called off their indefinite strike two days ago and now auto fares are up by 25%. According to revised fares, minimum fare is Rs 20 after crossing the minimum distance, it will be Rs 11 per kilometre, while waiting charges were hiked from Rs 15 to Rs 20. It’s worth mentioning here that even cab services charge the same price per kilometer after minimum distance is covered. Many passengers feel that the auto drivers will continue to flout rules, siphon people’s hard earned money like leeches even after Government giving in to their demands to up fares.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of our organisation.