[snaronikar]

Auto drivers press for steep hike



TIMES NEWS NETWORK



Bangalore: If autorickshaw drivers get their way, you could end up paying a lot more for an auto ride. They are demanding a steep increase in fares. The hike in minimum fare could be between Rs 15 and Rs 20 and subsequent fare could be Rs 7.50 to Rs 10 per km. What’s worse, they’re going on a strike on Friday to push for the change.
However, two groups of auto drivers are divided on the issue. The first group, Auto Drivers’ Unions’ Federation, said that passengers wouldn’t hire autos if the minimum fare were to be increased to Rs 20, with the subsequent fare at Rs 10 per km. “We want a fare that’s reasonable to passengers as well as auto drivers. Our proposal of Rs 15 and Rs 7.50/km takes care of both,” says B K Puttaswamy, federation member.
The second group, Autorickshaw Drivers’ Union backed by CITU, states that Rs 20 and Rs 10/km is a must
for auto drivers to earn a reasonable amount. It has also suggested Rs 250 as the take home per day for a driver.
“Our proposal has been devised so that we can earn Rs 250 per day and is in accordance with the 18 norms that government laid out for fare calculation. We’ve taken into account total investment for an auto driver and the perkilometre running cost. The Federation’s fare hasn’t taken into account the total cost incurred,” H V Sreenivas Murthy of CITU said.
The federation and CITU agree on the reasons for the fare hike — rising LPG prices (Rs 35.38 per litre now) which they say has gone up by Rs 6 in one month and by Rs 11 in a year (Rs 24 per litre in 2006), rising petrol prices, rise in prices of essential goods.

To go on strike or not? Auto drivers are divided


Bangalore: Roads may be less congested on Friday, but it won’t be an easy ride for those who travel by autorickshaws as auto drivers are threatening to go on strike to press for a fare hike.
However, auto drivers are divided. The strike has been called by Autorickshaw Drivers’ Union, which is backed by CITU. It claims to have the support of 17,000 drivers. On the other hand, the strike is opposed by Auto Drivers’ Unions Federation (ADUF) which claims to have the support of 25,000 drivers. These drivers will ply on Friday.
A meeting will be held on Thursday between Bangalore Urban deputy commissioner and Regional Transport Authority, M A Sadiq, and the CITU-backed union. If the outcome is inconclusive over the fare hike, passengers will be affected by a partial strike.
H V Sreenivas Murthy of the CITU-backed union said: “We want to reach an agreement with the DC on Thursday. If we don’t, we’ll go on strike on Friday between 6 am and 6 pm. If our demand is not met even after the strike, we will decide on the next course of action.’’
B K Puttaswamy of ADUF said: “We can’t go on frequent strikes and harass the public. We have already lost their confidence and don’t want to lose it further. The fare rise must be reasonable to the passengers and auto drivers. Their proposal is too high and the strike will hit our reputation.’’
At present, the minimum fare is Rs 12 and Rs 6 per km. The Autorickshaw Drivers’ Union demands a minimum fare of Rs 20 and Rs 10/km, while ADUF wants a minimum fare Rs 15 and Rs 7.50/km. The ADUF has submitted a memorandum to the police commissioner seeking protection for its auto drivers on Friday.

IN NUMBERS

l Overall number of autos - authorised and unauthorised - over 1,00,000
l Autos with permit (urban): 75,000
l Autos with rural permit and old autos operating in Bangalore urban (illegal): 20,000 to 25,000.
AUTOS ON LPG - 90%
LPG PER LITRE: Rs 24.96 in 2006 and Rs 35.38 in 2008


Roads w/o autos will be a good news for vehicle owners and bad news for daily commuters.

[megger]

Auto drivers would take reasonable money home if they are user friendly. So many of us try to avoid auto and end up calling city taxis just because you don't want to haggle with them.

With such nuisances and growing number of cars, things will only get difficult for auto drivers where fare hike will have further negative impact.

[finneyp]

Why?

Are they planning for a upgrade to Tata Nano?

[snaronikar]

Originally Posted by finneyp

Why?

Are they planning for a upgrade to Tata Nano?

LPG prices have gone up (as they have put it). Maybe we can find Nano's instead of autos in future. Who knows

[ego4evr]

Anywhich ways they charge us 10 Rs per KM all thier meters are tampered ,

All auto buggers are rowdies , they charge 10 to 20 rs or more over the meter , so whats the strike for .

Abhishek.

[csentil]

I'm ok for it if we can get tamper proof meters. I don't have to watch the meter jumping every 10 seconds even if the auto is moving at a snails pace.

Are digital meters tamper proof. I find autos taken from outlying areas and during night times to be cheats.

[Bass&Trouble]

Originally Posted by snaronikar

LPG prices have gone up (as they have put it).

They have! Its bloody robbery. It used to be 22 odd bucks 1 year ago and its 35 right now!!

[esteem_lover]

Rs. 36.20 here in chennai. absurd

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by csentil

I'm ok for it if we can get tamper proof meters. I don't have to watch the meter jumping every 10 seconds even if the auto is moving at a snails pace.

Do meters run based on just km or time as well?

[csentil]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Do meters run based on just km or time as well?

Nope... Auto meters generally run only on km, unless they are in waiting for which the meter has to be turned to waiting.

However the meters are tampered to either jump to the next unit before the prescribed distance, or to jump every N seconds irrespective of the distance covered as long as the auto is in motion.

Some don't even have the middle unit at all. Like they used to go 20, 40, 80, 00. No 60 there !! These are typically fly by night autos.

However compared to Chennai autowallahs, Bangalore auto guys are nothing... :-)

[snaronikar]

Today's drive to office was cool. No autos on roads and no traffic jams. Thanks to their strike. I know, it will be difficult for many people who commute daily in autos. I wish this to happen every day. :-)

[LLL]

who are these guys kidding? with Nano here, its now just a matter of time before most of these guys go out of business.

having experienced bangy autos on 2-3 occassions, serves them right as well.

[HappyWheels]

most of the auto meters are tampered and mostly run at twice their actual speed, so i see no reason to increase the base fare. this will again translate to more tampering and in the place where we pay 100Rs for a 50-60Rs (actual fare) trip, we spend 200+Rs because the actual fare will be not ~100Rs!!!
if the auto drivers were more polite and a good lot, then they will actually make a good amount. Rs250 per day will be sand dust for them (something smaller than peanut!). Now a days, if I do not have my car, I call up the call taxi, this is just to get me out of the 'talking' and, more importantly, to get away from the feeling of being taken for a 'ride' (literally) that I have with the auto guys.

[srishiva]

It was not just the traffic which was orderly, no pollution either. Rahul Bajaj should have put a better engine in the Auto rather than competing with 1 lakh car.

[anainar]

I was driving in the morning and surprised to see all the autos gone missing!! Then the gorgeous soudning Malvika in Radio Indigo said there is auto strike in Bangalore.

I was at the Sonyworld signal when I heard the news. Funny thing, I pulled over after the signal to see if any one would want a lift upto Domlur from Sonyworld where my office is located. People looked at me with suspicion first and then some four guys gathered courage and got into my car. And one guy waved his hand and I stopped, but he want to go to Indiranagar and said he is not interested in the lift. Think he did'nt know about the auto strike.

Hope the Nano comes throws all the autorickshaws off the road. Atleast the rash driving of autos might stop. Nose forward technic of Auto is very annoying and with Nano it may not be possible.

Nainar