Autos in Bangalore ply on the road at their whims and fancies.It is ridiculous.And reasons are plenty:
Sometimes its traffic : If excess money demanded by them is agreed upon,wont there be traffic?
Sometimes its timing: Early in the morning,they don't want to take passengers.
Sometimes its the destination: The reasons justified by them is that we wont get a passenger back,either pay the amount they say which is sometimes almost the double by metre fare or keep on searching for another autos.
Sometimes its from where you get the auto that matters: An auto in front of a mall will charge you whatever they like.
Sometimes they go by metre + Rs 20/Rs 30/Rs 50: Is that the service tax they add extra?? :)
Incident: I don't remember the last time I took an auto which goes by meter. Be it the Bangalore railway station or an auto in front of the mall,we all know we are paying a little extra,or may be even double the fare sometimes.The last was when I hired an auto from Forum value mall,Whitefield and the gang of autos refused to take less than Rs 100 whereas the original fare by meter would come around Rs 37.A mere 1-2 kms they would charge 30-40 Rs.
But yesterday I met one Auto wallah who had put his meter down in Whitefield ! And that is first time in 3 years.. Whoa
While we can always complain about Auto Wallah who do not listen,we can always highlight an auto wallah who listens either on FB or Twitter.This move can encourage the auto wallah to be true to us,and hopefully next time,we see more auto wallas who take us by meter.
Hiring an auto in the tech city is totally maddening.Do you know we already pay more meter wise than other cities?
So why are the RTO officers and officials not monitoring this,why cant they check up and see arbitrarily,why the callous attitude of the number of vehicles in Bangalore City is Rising???
Do you know why?
Simple.Remember the last time you complained?Yes,we all give in to auto wallas demands and that's the reason they charge more.But its not possible to check and scan each and every auto in the city,unless you move forward and take this small simple step of complaining.Lets say tomorrow a few autos are scanned,how can you be sure that every area every auto takes you by metre. We all by now know the auto walas are fearless.
The number of registered auto(2010 stats):105630
Unregistered:Many
In a people-friendly initiative,traffic police have opened a 24-hour interactive voice response system (IVRS) and text message-based complaint-lodging system.Commuters can use these services to lodge complaints against auto rickshaw drivers who refuse to ply to a destination and/or for overcharging.Additional commissioner of police (traffic) Praveen Sood said SMSs sent by people will go to the traffic management system based on which action will be taken on the drivers.
A solution to the meter jam:Send an SMS
Auto Rickshaw Refusal or Overcharging
In case of refusal or overcharging by an auto, just send an SMS to 52225
For Refusal :
AUTO<SPACE>REF<SPACE>AUTO NO.<SPACE>LOCATION<SPACE>TIME OF REFUSAL
Example: AUTO REF KA01XY1234 MG ROAD TO KORMANGALA 5:30 PM
For Overcharging:
AUTO<SPACE>OVR<SPACE>AUTO NO.<SPACE>LOCATION<SPACE>TIME OF OVERCHARGING
Example: AUTO REF KA01XY1234 MG ROAD TO KORMANGALA 5:30 PM
Send to 52225
Lodge a complaint with:
Excess Fare
Join the facebook page to interact with the top cops and complain
Bangalore Auto Complaint Official FB Link
More details on How To Complain is there at
Complaint Against Meter Tampering
Google Andriod App
Auto Complaint Bangalore is a free app that enables you to take on an auto driver when he asks for more money or takes a longer route. All you have to do is enter the Auto number, the location details and state the kind of issue you are facing by clicking on the check box.
You can also take a snap of the auto and upload it. The app puts it in an email format and sends it across to the police or Regional Transport Office (RTO). "The app is capable of identifying the nature of the issue and it forwards the mail accordingly,"
Yeah even I had experienced this thing in Mumbai. I was travelling from Sion station to Santacruz airport and I had to take rickshaw to reach on time . Mostly auto walas charge four times more than what meter would be. I wanted to go by meter only so that it would be cost me less so I kept on asking all auto walas but all were nearly charging the same without meter. Then at end I asked one auto wala uncle if its by meter and how much it will cost , he just simply said yes and told it would cost nearby 100 by meter . I was very glad and had feeling of big achievement that I was going to save nearly 300 rs. Then I asked him that I will pay 90 rs irrespective of meter and unbelievable he agreed too . That was first time I experienced good travelling experience by Mumbai auto wala. Thanks to that uncle who dropped me on time and being very humble and honest.....................
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