No respite for commuters

Pre Paid Woes

When they were first set up, the City’s prepaid autorickshaw stands spelled hope for most commuters.

Given that they’re monitored by a traffic police official and require drivers to ply at a fixed rate to each destination, they were considered to be the perfect answer to the standard problems of tampered meters and overcharging.

But over time, a different reality has emerged — in fact, these prepaid stands appear to come with a host of accompanying problems. Whether it’s because of uncooperative drivers or negligence on the behalf of the monitoring authority, they don’t seem to be offering commuters much respite.

Ranjini, who works at a banking firm, points to the fact that there seems to be some sort of understanding between the drivers and the police official at most prepaid autorickshaw stands.

“Often, if we ask for an auto to a nearby destination, the drivers refuse to go. The cop at the stand also ignores this at times,” she complains. Tickets mentioning the exact fare that is to be paid — one of the basic premises of setting up the stands in the first place — seem to be unavailable at most times. “I’ve encountered a policeman at one such stand. He refused to show me the price chart when telling me how much to pay, and he also claimed that all the tickets were over. Because of this, once I reached my destination, the auto driver asked for double the fare,” she recollects, adding that such incidents are quite common.

One of the most basic issues with prepaid stands is that they’re few and far between, and remain inaccessible to many commuters. Aishwarya, a professional, tells Metrolife, “There’s a lack of stands in many places. I think it makes sense to have one outside each Metro Station, but this isn’t the case.” Another complaint that she has is about the fares which have been charted out from each stand. “If I’m travelling from Commercial Street to Fraser Town, the fare should be around Rs 25. But at the prepaid stand, they charge me Rs 54. The rates that have been fixed seem unfair,” she elaborates.

Anjali, a psychology student, says that a frequent problem she encounters is that there aren’t enough autos at the stands. “This happens especially during peak hours. At such times, the policeman often puts two or three people into the same auto. Other than being a security issue — since you’re travelling with a complete stranger — drivers often manipulate this confusion and charge each person extra,” she concludes.

Specificity is also a problem when it comes to fare charts, says Aishwarya, adding that the issue is compounded due to the tantrums kicked up by most auto drivers. “If I say I have to travel to Indiranagar, there should be a fixed rate for whichever place I’m going to within that area. They can’t club an entire area under one rate,” she explains. Bangalore’s auto drivers also seem to be making every effort to live up to their notorious reputation. “They complain constantly, and claim that I’m making them travel beyond the fixed destination. When we get there, they start off with the standard excuse of not having change. And because I’m often in a hurry, I end up paying them more,” she concludes.