For commuters arriving at the Central railway station, it has become a daily affair: Auto drivers pretend to be from Ola and demand exorbitant prices.
"The app gives users the photograph of the driver and the registration number of their vehicle. Yet these auto drivers feel they can trick us in to getting in to their vehicle," says regular commuter H Ashwini. "They demand three to four times the cost of a cab and if we don't agree, they rough up drivers who are trying to be fair. It is cartel there that is out of control."
What is really happening, though, is that auto drivers are feeling the heat - and it's not from summer, it's the competition from app-based cab operators. Most auto drivers remain stuck in a mind-set promises to ruin them, even as cab operators are dishing out new features and making travel so much easier.
But auto drivers also acknowledge that they are losing customers to mobile apps.
"I never used to have a problem finding customers. But the demand is slowing falling," says D Udayakumar, an auto driver from Tiruninravur.
The reasons are simple. Ola last week said it would introduce Wi-Fi on all its cabs and autos. The company said its top-end category Prime alone consumes more than 200TB of data every month. It expects a surge once it makes internet available on all its cars. Earlier this year, Ola and Uber also slashed their prices to Rs 6/km. To make rides even cheaper, Ola is experimenting with a share-ride option. If things go well, Ola may even bring motorbikes to Chennai.
Auto drivers, as is their wont, have to blame someone or something. They say they are at the receiving end of bad regulation.
"A few bad auto drivers spoil the image for everyone," Chennai Central Railway Station Auto Drivers and Commuters Welfare Society president G Arumugam says. "Even if we want to ply by the meter, we are not able to as we do not get enough commuters. We are being robbed of by drivers who are with Ola."
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