May 15, 2007

Beware: Auto Journey

Recently I had a very bitter experience with an auto-driver in Bangalore. Me and my friend were coming from Majestic and as per the supposed night fare rules we had to pay him double meter. The meter came to 70 rs so we had to pay him 140 Rs.

I readily took out 2 notes of 100 rs from my pocket and gave to him. As soon I gave him the money, he bent backwards as if to see the meter reading. He told me to point some light using my mobile there so that he could confirm the reading [it was midnight]. I did not have any clue as to what he was up to. I put my mobile and showed to him. He agreed it is 140 rs. Then he looked at the notes in hand and told me that I had to give him 140 and not 110. He had a 100 rs and a 10 rs note in his hand.

What he had done was that while our attention was at the meter reading, he somehow slipped one 100 rs note from his hand and put a 10 rs in its place.

We were very sure that we had given him 200 and not 110 as he said. I told him the same and asked for the money back. But he did not agree. He raised his voice and told us that he did not do anything and it was us only who were cheating.

I tried to locate the note in the auto but it was nowhere to be seen. After shouting for some time, I had to finally give him to money as there was no one who could support us that time. I gave him 30 rs and then left the auto. I ended up paying 230 for a 105 rs ride [as per the actual rules you need to pay 1.5 times the meter post 10pm]

Only thing I could do was to note down the number of auto and driver name [though the driver in the licence plate was different from the one driving]. If any of you know how can I take a badla [in the form of complaint or something] with the auto-driver, do let me know. I heard there was a forum formed in Bangalore, but I could not locate its contact informtaion on google.

5 comments:

Mondy said...

Yaar usko pakad ke auto ke bahar kheench lena tha aur fir apne PM pe aaya hua sara gussa uspe nikalna tha yaar. aise mauke baar baar nahi milte.

CandidConfessions said...

Doesn feel great to be reading bad things about home!! Could you not directly book a complaint with the police?? On second thoughts,Bangalore traffic police are pathetic anyways!

Pritesh Jain said...

Their is a prologue to this story. When we got down from Mysore-Bangalore bus at Majestic, we were approached by many autowalas. They all said it is double meter time. I knew these is no rule which makes them charge such, but then there was no other options. Apparently these all autowalas were standing in front of the prepaid counter which was closed. What kind of help that does to commuters and travelers is a big questions.

Secondly there was policewala also present at the same spot but he was just noting down numbers of auto that were leaving the place. I guess he was just keeping a tab of all the people whom he has to take his cut from. He did not say a word.

This is a common scene in most of the places here.

Goli said...

Yups... it does feel strange...I am sure there are reasons why these people are charging double, maybe it is the question of enabling his kid to give the entrance exam which costs 500 rupees, and he is trying to get money for that. You could have asked him. I am not supporting the auto wallas.

Ofcourse the final cheating thing you should complain, please do complain, irrespective of traffic policeman doing anything or not, please do complain.

Pritesh Jain said...

@goli: This is utter optimism. If they need money, they should work hard.