Chennai auto rickshaw drivers always raise a ruckus

Once during my trip to Chennai, I had to take a Auto Rickshaw from the railway station to my destination and needless to say it was a terrible experience. Although generally I don’t intend to recollect any of my negative experiences, yet  if it could help few I don’t mind doing it.

Needless to say as many of us already know auto rickshaw drivers (majority of them) always quote a higher price than the correct one and it would be a dream come true if you could really find at least one auto driver in whole of Chennai who agrees to come by meter.

At any bus stand or railway station you are bound to be surrounded by crooks trying to lure you. I was no exception @ Chennai Central Railway Station. More than the money, I get annoyed with the argument with the drivers, hence decided to opt for the Pre paid Autos. To my surprise the prepaid auto fair was less than half the fare quoted by other auto drivers. I was impressed by the facility instilled by TN state government to comfort the passengers for hassle free travel. We had to get a token for Rs 3 and get a Receipt quoting the amount and destination. Unfortunately I didn’t have exact change and the guy at the counter refused to give the token unless exact change tendered. To my rescue an old lady who stood before me in the queue donated and helped me with two 2 rupee coins. So I managed to get the token and returned Rs 1 balance to the lady with humility

I got into an auto which came as per sequence. The initial behavior of the driver itself was very hostile but as I didn’t expect anything great from these crooks, I decided to board the auto. I got vibes that he was not satisfied by the price quoted by the pre paid taxi booth.

 

 

My journey from Railway station to my destination was hardly 15 minutes @ 20:30 in the night. But the entire drive gave me a feeling of riding in a roller coaster. There was a clear mark of arrogance from the driver by breaking all traffic signals, driving in all wrong directions and abusing everyone who came on his way. I was wondering if he was drunk. Finally we managed to reach my destination safe. I amount stated in the Pre-paid auto receipt was Rs 75, as again unfortunately I didn’t have exact change. I ended up in giving him a 100 rupee note and was waiting for him to return me the balance. To my dismay , this is what happened further

 Driver :What am I supposed to do with this ?

me :return me the balance 25. 

Driver : You are actually supposed to pay me more, as it’s night time

me : Night ? it’s hardly 9:00 p.m , and if so Why has the prepaid counter billed me for Rs 75

Driver : Prepaid counter is incorrect and they would quote even 250 for the same distance if it’s raining

me : Well if you are not compliant with this rate, you should have told me before start  and I would pay whatever the Prepaid counter gives me bill for

Driver : Everyone gives extra, Y are u thinking so much for Rs 25

Within this the driver drove his auto without even waiting or letting me a chance to try for change in any near by shops.

The following day me and my wife were back to Central railway station Prepaid Auto booth. There was a poster displayed, for complaints call. We tried calling that number and the number was switched off. I wondered why do they even advertise such number if they are not really open to listen to any complaints.

My wife was in fact more furious than me and wanted to complain at any cost. We enquired a near by police constable and explained him the situation, he re-directed us to crime branch and insisted that we lodge a complain as they are not able to address such problem only because people don’t come forward and complain. We marched ahead to the crime branch police station and explained the police officer over there. The police officer demanded the receipt issued by the Prepaid Auto booth.

To our surprise the receipt didn’t mention the vehicle registration number. The police said , ideally there should be a police officer till 21:00 and only they should issue the receipt along with the vehicle number and may be the police officer left little earlier that day. Hence some local auto union guy would have issued receipts without the vehicle number.  I felt like questioning back the police officer, “if the issuing authority has left earlier that day, who is responsible and Police is supposed to provide security 24/7 , so don’t you take responsibility for trains coming after 21:00 ? Such negligence only causes all breach and terrorists could happily kill many @ Mumbai railway station too.”

The police officer was asking information about the physical appearance of the driver.  We furnished the details to the best of our knowledge. But it was very clear there is much we could do without the vehicle registration number.

Overall, more than the money the behavior of the driver was more annoying. I would have happily paid him Rs 100 had requested politely or at least demanded upfront before starting the journey. Only bitter lesson I could learn this horrifying experience is , when ever next time you deal with a auto driver,

• Have exact change before you get into the auto and don’t expect the driver to return you back the change (Even if he has the balance, he would pretend as if he doesn’t have balance and he doesn’t have any intentions to be honest)
• If in case of any misbehavior , do make not of the vehicle registration number.

Above all, don’t expect the authorities to be of any help and this how life and society is. Better not to take to much to heart and mind

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