Comments on: The Unique Issue of Auto Drivers in Chennai, India

By: Vijayalakshmi Ambalavanan

Vijayalakshmi Ambalavanan — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:53:27 +0000

Dear all,
I request you to look at life from the other end – the auto driver’s end. True, he charges more than is legally allowed. However, the current auto fares were fixed way back in the year 1995 when the price of petrol for 1L was Rs.35. Even though petrol rates kept increasing, the auto fares were not revised by the government.

An auto driver who charges rs.14 minimum and rs.7 every extra km, would earn approximately rs.800 per day. It is a known fact that most autos are hired/rented and it’ll be charged on a daily basis. hence, Rs.200 will go for his auto rent and another 200 for petrol and other minor expenses. With the remaining 400 rupees, an auto driver has to feed his relatively large family (mother, father, wife and 2 or 3 children)as well as for other expenses such as medical, rent, bribes and other necessities without which survival in Chennai becomes hard. All these factors force an auto driver to spend at least rs.100-150 apart from his earnings. And hence, the over-charging.

How would you react when an entire society turns up against you making a decent living? A decent livelihood? Questions your very right to democracy? That is how an auto driver feels. They have been thrown into the negative light for so long that they use a defensive mode as a defense mechanism. @Avnesh: Everybody has their bad days, you just got unlucky.

I am not justifying their act of over-charging but they are also victims like you and me. The only solution to this is to demand the government to revise auto fares as petrol costs go up. Next time you travel by auto, why don’t you ask the driver about these fares and how it will help them once they are revised? While your doing so, ask them if they will use meters once the fares are revised and you will only hear a unified voice shout out: YES!

So, now what do you think?

By: Anvesh

Anvesh — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 23:50:52 +0000

Somehow Tamil Nadu reminds me of the hostile, self-preserving, fight-for-everything race from which we evolved into this civilized, compromise-seeking race. And the worst of this lot, you guessed it, are the auto drivers. That was long back and now I live in Mumbai. One of my friends asked me why I sit on the edge when in an auto, as if I am ready to jump out. It was then that I realized that the Chennai auto drivers have a left a scar in my pysche. If you are soft-spoken by nature, I advise you to never go to, or worse, settle in Chennai. Unless you want to see how evolved from Nendarthals.

By: saraswathy

saraswathy — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 07:35:13 +0000

In many cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad, Auto drivers uses electronic meters to charge. In front of the passenger seat, auto driver license are pasted in every auto. If the auto driver misbehaves or demmands more, you can easily complaint to RTO by telephoning. They will immediately call the Driver for enquiry. Autos are very systematic in those cities. But why the same thing is not happening in this city?

By: Adithya

Adithya — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:27:31 +0000

Dear all.. Auto in chennai is not only a state shame but national shame. Only political parties (most stupid) both Dravadian parties, because more than 50% are owned by them only. Having travelled all over India, I dont think that woman can be trated so cheaper than on chennai roads by these auto drivers. I am not over doing, but 99.9% autos are culprits and uncivilized. a big drawback in chennai more people rely on these vehicle (like train in mumbai) for travelling from point A to B in time and other transport systems are in very bad shape (buses) or not well conneted. Its unfair to call them as chennites but can call them as Crude Tamilians. Karunanidi and Jaya should die the state will get the real freedom…

By: Bhagwad Jal Park

Bhagwad Jal Park — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 01:46:47 +0000

Dear Mr. Gopalakrishnan,

I fully agree with you. Private players being allowed to enter the market would indeed benefit people tremendously.

In fact, I feel that people may not mind paying even a higher price. What angers and irritates them is the knowledge that they are being taken advantage of, and being charged based on the individual driver’s perception of how much can be got out of them, instead of a systematic appraisal that is uniform.

By: Venkataramanan Gopalakrishnan

Venkataramanan Gopalakrishnan — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 22:47:13 +0000

I agree with you, I think we need more private players entering the AUTO’s part of transportation and I mean all the public transports cause then alteast would we all Chennai be able to see Clean buses, autos or even trains and mostly the roads. They are so poorly maintained. Would the Respective Authorities look into this issue seriosly as it would change the face of Chennai into a much prettier one!