When is the last time
you went in an Auto with a meter ??
When is the last time
you didn't bargain with an auto driver ??
When is the last time
you smiled at an auto driver ??
I don't remember the
last time any of this happened to me. We all are ready to blame the auto
drivers for the high fares they charges us, but lets be realistic, blaming is
an easy game, getting to the core reasons for the problem is a tough one. Lets
for once take the tough path and find out who is to be blamed for the high
fares in an auto.
There are various
aspects that can be accounted as root causes for this problem,
- Change in fuel prices.
- Limited finance options available for the auto driver.
- Problems with the old meter system.
- Problem caused by law enforcement agencies.
- Poor understanding between the customer and the auto
driver.
On a tired night you
wonder what worse could happen , and the government proves you wrong by
increasing the petrol prices overnight. When a price of a commodity increases ,
the effect cascades and increases the price of all other commodities. Hence its
natural that the auto-driver is entitled to ask you for more money. Yet the
level with which the auto driver increases the charge is surely to be brought
under the scanner. After all the auto driver is no Anil Ambani who doesn't have
to care about losing a few bucks and the public aren't Mukesh Ambani who
doesn't have to care about spending a few bucks extra. So whom can we blame for
this ?? The government , well it wont be entirely correct to blame the
government for this as it allocates subsidies to lower the price of fuel , but
we can still blame it for such a high tax on fuel.
We must be very clear
that if the auto-drivers had the money they would have been driving taxies or
may be arranging tours for Shimla in their Volvo tour buses. As it happens to
be, they cant afford to buy their own auto. Most of the auto's have private
owners who demand high rents from the drivers. The rest of the drivers buy
auto's with the help of finance agencies that demand a high rate of interest.
So in order to drive on they are entitled to levy their added charges on the
customer.
The only auto's that had
meters were the ones in Batsha movie. But yet again we cant expect every
auto-driver to be like Rajni kanth. The problem with the old meters is that
they calculate the charge based on the distance travelled and they take into
account the fuel prices from the days of the past decade. On an average trip if
there is a traffic jam or a procession, during the waiting time the engine
still keeps running and but the meter calculates the distance . So in the
meantime who pays for fuel that is being burnt by the engine ??
Law enforcement agencies
like the traffic police tend to demand bribes from the auto drivers even when
they produce the relevant documents. This has been eliminated to some extent by
vigilant actions against officers who accept bribes and through the introduction of
the e-chalan system to print a bill to account for the fine being
charged. In-spite of all this there ceases to exist a friendly
relationship between the auto-drivers and the law enforcement agencies.
At last comes the major
problem, the lack of friendly relationship between the customer and the
auto-driver. People are ready to bargain the prices with auto-drivers to reduce
5 bucks but never care about the 14.2% vat tax that is levied on them by Pizza
stores. In a documentary "For Hire" by L.V.Prasad film academy ,
Dr.Mahalingam an analyst of fares states that " You pay peanuts , you get
monkeys" , and that to expect a good behaviour from the auto-driver we
must pay what they ask for. But as an average citizen an extra 5rs burns a hole
in our packet.
Unlike Arnab Goswamy who
takes prime-time in Times Now , to discuss with five or six other
jobless people to determine the problem, there still are some responsible
citizens who have taken this problem and found an apt solution to it. I would like
to quote some of them in this blog.
1. Dr.K.Prahalathan
an ophthalmologist from Chennai, has started an online campaign
to rationalize the auto fares in Chennai. His petition requests the transport
department to regulate the fare structures , establish a rate card for fares
based on the fuel rates and a helpline to report violations. This petition has
presently around 10,000 signatures and requires 5,000 more before it could be
submitted to the transport ministry. Readers supporting it can sign this petition
here
2. A documentary
"For hire" , by S.A.Aravind of the L.V.Prasad film academy features
the problems faced by both auto-drivers and commuters and is available in
youtube.
As a regular commuter we
cant fight back for the regulation of prices but by supporting causes like this
we can show our support and inturn expect a change that
would benefit everyone.
Raghavan
ps: its my first blog
post, if there are any mistakes please be kind enough to point it out, I will
try my personal best to correct in the future posts :)
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Dr.K.Prahalathan is also
a co-founder of a youth voluntary organisation Bhumi , which provides
supplementary education to the needy children in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka,
Maharashtra and New Delhi.
