When we visit a place for the first time, we usually don’t know how to navigate through the lanes like a local, which is when we book an auto or a taxi to drop us safely to our destination. Well, suspecting that we are new to the city, unaware of the law of the land, we are sometimes tricked into paying extra bucks by the local auto drivers. Some say it’s a late-night fee, bad weather charges, while others call it road tax. But what if someone charges you a whopping Rs.4300 for an 18-km ride?
As insane as it sounds, this actually happened in Pune. A techie From Bengaluru who just moved to Pune to take up a job in an IT firm was ‘looted’ by an auto driver in the wee hours of Wednesday. After travelling overnight from Bengaluru the techie got off in Katraj, on the Katraj-Dehu Road Bypass. Unable to book a cab online, he hired an auto-rickshaw to drop him from Katraj to Yerawada where he was provided with company accommodation.
Approximately 18km from his pickup destination, the auto- driver who was allegedly drunk, charged the techie Rs.4,300 as auto fare. According to techie’s complaint, the auto driver was accompanied by another person too. “One man drove the auto-rickshaw, while another on the passenger seat, who was actually the driver, appeared to be drunk.”
He was informed by the drive to avoid being charged by the cops for drunk driving. When they reached the destination near Yerawada police station, the two men asked techie to pay Rs.4300.
“When I protested, they told me they paid Rs.600 to enter the city and will have to pay Rs.600 to leave the city; the rest was the actual fare,” he said.
Since the roads were empty early in the morning, he got scared and paid the unreasonable fare. But he noted the auto-rickshaws registration number and later submitted a compliant application to the Yerawada police station. A police officer informed that the complaint has been forwarded to the concerned chowki.
An officer from the Yerawada police said:
“We have received the complaint application and will forward it to the chowki concerned. They will search for the suspects and take action.”
It is really sad that local rickshaw drivers take advantage of a passenger’s helplessness and charge an unreasonable fare, which is probably why most of the people choose to use a taxi aggregator. Have you been in a similar situation? Share your stories with us!