Passengers wary of being taken for a long ride

HYDERABAD: These days, one often comes across people arguing with auto drivers for having been “taken for a ride.’’
Though the meters display the earlier fare structure, passengers are shown the “revised’’ fare list and thus are charged more.
Even though the government permitted a revised auto fare structure maintaining Rs 8 as the minimum fare and Rs 4.60 for every additional kilometre as against Rs 4 previously, passengers are suspicious of the auto drivers.In most cases, their suspicions are not unfounded.
“The minimum fare for travelling up to 1.6 km is Rs 8 and for each subsequent km an additional Rs 4.60 needs to be charged. I travelled 1.6 km only, but the auto driver displayed a tariff card with a minimum charge of Rs 9.80,� a commuter, Arvind M Kothari at Jambagh Road, said.
Such unfair methods need to be checked, he said. Soon after the government order issued on Feb. 17 with the revised auto fare structure, most auto drivers began demanding a minimum fare of Rs 10, though the minimum fare still remains Rs 8.
“Even when I travelled for about a kilometre, the auto driver demanded a minimum fare of Rs 10 and I had to give up unwilling to get into an argument,� S Deepa, a college student at Begumpet said. For a person commuting on autos almost everyday it becomes hard to shell out the amount demanded, she said.
Many others also pointed to the faulty meters. “Most of them are rigged. Hence the normal fare itself is higher than usual. Over and above this, we have to dish out the revised rates according to this faulty fare,’’ says Arati, who works in an MNC and has to pay an extra sum of Rs 10 everyday.
It is after all an open secret that over 90 per cent of the auto meters in the city are tampered with.
However, auto drivers union representatives maintain that the meters of the one lakh autos in the city and Rangareddy region have not been re-calibrated according to the revised fares and this would be completed within three months.
“Of these about 70,000 autos ply in the city and auto meter tampering would be a thing of the past once the meters are re-calibrated,� Auto Drivers Joint Action Committee convener Mohd Amanullah Khan said.
A campaign for ‘correct metering and better service’ was launched by the auto driver unions in the city on February 20 and based on this, surprise checks will be conducted to track such autos once the meters are set to the new fares, Khan said.
As against a drop of 23 paise with 20 times amounting to Rs 4.60 for every additional km, the auto drivers are demanding a drop of 40 paise and to re-calibrate the meters accordingly.
The auto drivers union representatives met the officials of the Legal Metrology department of weights and measures for the correct recalibration on par with auto calibrations in Mumbai.