Are fare-by-meter days over?

Bengaluru: Starting today, DH brings you a series on how auto rides in Bengaluru have become hard to find, unpredictable, and unregulated. Why is the government blind to this daily problem, and how can we fix it?   

With few auto drivers going by the meter, citizens are increasingly banking on apps, and their luck, for their daily rides. 

The fare-by-meter system has largely collapsed, and the government is doing nothing either to regularise higher fares or to stop passengers from being fleeced because of the lack of a clear policy. 

Officials say disagreements among driver unions is one of the main reasons for Bengaluru's auto fare crisis. 

In 11 years, auto fares have been revised only twice. The most recent revision — in November 2021 — set the base fare at Rs 30 for the first 1.9 km and Rs 15 for every subsequent km. 

The earlier revision was in 2013. The Auto Rickshaw Drivers' Union (ARDU) and the Adarsh Auto and Taxi Drivers' Union (AATDU) are again seeking higher fares and stricter enforcement. However, other unions oppose this, fearing that higher fares will drive passengers away. 

In November 2023, ARDU wrote to Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, seeking an annual fare revision tied to the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), and sought an amendment to Section 67(i) of the Motor Vehicles Act, which specifies that auto fares be fixed from "time to time", but doesn't indicate a specific timeframe. The letter proposed replacing the words "from time to time" with "according to the WPI every year". 

Price index sync

With an annual fare revision, ARDU says, auto rides will become more reliable, and drivers will be less likely to refuse rides or demand excess fare. 

On September 20 this year, ARDU and AATDU reiterated the demand at a meeting called by the District Transport Authority (DTA), chaired by the Bengaluru Urban deputy commissioner. 

The city's 10 Regional Transport Officers (RTOs), Deputy Commissioners of Police (Traffic) and representatives of driver unions are members of this authority. The DTA evaluates factors like fuel prices and traffic conditions before deciding on fare revisions. 

M Manjunath of AATDU argues that, accounting for inflation, auto fares would now have been Rs 50 (first 2 km) and Rs 25 (every subsequent km) if not for ride-hailing apps like Ola and Uber. 

However, not all unions agree that raising fares is the way to go. Peace Auto Union president Raghu Narayan Gowda opposes a fare hike unless the cab fares are also revised as per a February 2024 notification. 

"Passengers usually prefer cabs to autos for night-time rides because the fares are lower. So if the auto fares are raised now, we may struggle to find day-time rides, too," Gowda said. 

Dayananda KA, who was deputy commissioner when the demands were first made, said, "Some unions want it, others oppose it. It is a 50:50 split." 

Inactive committee

A committee was formed to assess the demand and submit a report in 60 days. "We will go by the committee's recommendations," he said. 

The committee has five members: Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic-East) Kuldeep Kumar Jain (chairman), RTO (State Transport Undertakings/Auto-rickshaws, secretary), RTOs (Rajajinagar and Jayanagar), and an official of the Department of Legal Metrology. 

Its mandate is to hear out driver unions, evaluate traffic conditions and passenger demand, and submit a report by December. But two months on, the committee has not met even once. 

Jain said the meeting would take place after the Jayanagar RTO came up with a schedule. "I will conduct the meeting after the modalities are finalised. We will hear the grievances of driver unions and other stakeholders and then take a decision about fare revision," he explained. 

Jayanagar RTO S Mallesh said the meeting was to be called by Soundarya KS, the RTO for STUs and Autos, because she was the committee secretary. Soundarya could not be reached for comments. 

The DTA has to meet every month to receive grievances from auto drivers and address traffic problems but this seldom happens, according to D Rudramurthy of ARDU. 

Jagadeesha G, the incumbent Bengaluru Urban deputy commissioner, confirmed that no meeting had taken place after he took charge in October. 

‘No complaints’

Reddy, transport minister, said there was no proposal before the government to hike auto fares. He claimed citizens had raised no complaints about exorbitant fares either. 

While Reddy earlier supported raising the fares every two or three years, he now says the hike will only be effected on demand.