Can we still afford an Auto ??

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

http://www.change.org/petitions/rationalise-auto-rickshaw-fares-in-chennai-chennaiauto?fb_action_ids=10152004923885156&fb_action_types=change-org%3Arecruit&fb_ref=__cscguQLnCa&fb_source=timeline_og

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19DA7tRefRI

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. 

www.bhumi.org.in