[srishiva]

We always seem to be in a hurry and we get fleeced I guess.

When living abroad, once I was surrounded by thugs near the domestic airport in the dark areas after unloading my luggage from the bus that brings you from International airport. I had to part with 50 dollars. Some volunteer got one of them arrested and spent the time until early morning flight to Bengaluru in the police station giving evidence (usually its boring sitting inside the terminal with no chairs ).

Some times you could even find officials pestering (they were pests) you with umpteen reasons and threats to take you inside and check your luggage even after you have cleared customs and are outside.

It was a relief to fly directly from Bengaluru. Even in Chennai, they were gentlemen compared to Mumbai.

[esteem_lover]

Here is something to make you feel better;

I got fleeced 2 years back by an auto to take me from the airport to the IOC guest house just behind the Airport. I did not know the distance and paid him 200 (I even bargained from 300 to 200, tried pushing him to ek so pacchas, but he would not budge ) for a 2 minute ride. On my way back, I took a shortcut and walked for 6 minutes to reach the airport. I did a recce before lugging my trolley bag. This is quite common in all big cities. But I thought I was taken for a ride because I do not know Hindi AND I do not know the place.

[Jignesh]

Hello,

This is what I follow whenever I travel to new City in India.

Most of us are now having Internet enabled smartphones with us. Also most of us will be having Google Maps installed in our Snartphone, if not please get it installed, it is free.

Say I am at Mumbai Airport, going to To Noida (via Delhi Airport) I am going to waiting for atleast 45 minutes doing nothing but waiting for the Boarding to start. During this time I switch on Google Maps & check the distance of my destination (sec. 60, Noida from New Delhi Airport). This gives me a decent idea about approx distance of the destination & how much should I pay to Taxi / Rixa wallah.

Thus in the above case, I know approx distance from Mumbai Airport to Chembur is say 15 kms, I cannot pay anything more than Rs. 300 or Rs. 350 - (15 kms x Rs. 23 per KM).

Also while travelling at night even in pre-paid Taxi's I keep my Google Maps navigation on, so that I can track that the Taxi Driver is taking towards the direction of my destination.

I can tell from my personal experience that Google Maps work perfectly in major cities of India.

Thanks,
P.S. I am not a Google Maps salesman, but it has really helped me at unknown places.

[download2live]

Reminds me of the incident when I was changing planes in Mumbai Airport. I had to go from one terminal to the other. The Taxi drivers at the exit "Offered" me to drop at other terminal though it was just a 5 min walk.
But I am a clever cat.
Just ignored them.
Only camera companies can make me part with my cash with ease.

[ani_meher]

Yep, you were part of the charity program towards taxi drivers welfare! Thanks for sharing the experience so the next person doesn't get in the same trap.

On a side note, I find it amusing that you find it difficult to calling Mumbai by its name and use 'Bombay', yet your profile location mentions you are from 'Chennai' and not 'Madras'! Shouldn't difficulties and definitions be standard everywhere?

[gjiyap1]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

Here is something to make you feel better;

...This is quite common in all big cities. But I thought I was taken for a ride because I do not know Hindi AND I do not know the place.

Here atleast you have an excuse of not knowing language/Place

Originally Posted by ptushar

I had a similar experience the other day in Mumbai.
.... Made sure that they notice that I am getting into the Meru and drove off. Ah! The pleasure it gave me was worth every paisa I paid to Meru.

Indeed. Will do it - if i get into such situation in future. Though, now the lesson learnt - the basic rule going to be - book the cab in advance & get the vehicle/driver details on you mobile and have a peaceful travel. Simple !

Originally Posted by ani_meher

....
On a side note, I find it amusing that you find it difficult to calling Mumbai by its name and use 'Bombay', yet your profile location mentions you are from 'Chennai' and not 'Madras'! Shouldn't difficulties and definitions be standard everywhere?

Good point. It is only a convenience/choice/situation - the naming convention is used accordingly.

[rnair]

Ah! I thought only I was one of the few who managed to get into such a situation at the Mumbai Airport. Me and my friend had to go to Pune and as the flights were expensive, decided to fly down to Bombay and take a cab or bus from there. Now I am no stranger to Mumbai as I was born and brought up there and I was used to decent Auto and Taxi drivers (who charged only on meter) as opposed to the horrible guys at Chennai. Now as with all the above cases we thought we could manage a cheaper ride by hiring a cab from outside and walked out only to be swarmed by a group of cabbies(or agents) we settled one guy for 1800 as we had to get there earlier due to official commitments. We were taken outside the airport premises in an auto where we were put onto an Indica. Another guy got into the passenger seat. This guy asked for the cash and gave us a manual bill. My friend pulled out 3 fresh crisp 500 Rupee notes and three 100 Rupee notes which we had just withdrawn from the Airport ATM. Now I was not entirely comfortable with ths "other guy" and decided to keep an eye on his activities. Now this guy slyly put his hand into his pocket and pulled out a hundred rupee note from his pocket, and dropped one of the 500 Rupee notes onto the floor. He was oblivious to the fact that I was noticing all this (being Mumbai, I was a little extra conscious). He turned back and said that we had given him only two 500 Rupee notes and four hundred Rupee notes by mistake. Now I asked him to show us the notes and told him that we had just pulled out these notes from an ATM and there was no chance that this hundred rupee was a part of the other notes as it was a soiled one. Now he started arguing and getting rough (which is a bit scary in Mumbai, surrounded only by other cabbies and similiar agents). I chose to remain cool and told him "bhai, aapke haath se wo 500 ka note neeche gir gaya hai... uttha lo". He was stunned for a second and then started to counter saying it was some other note. Now the driver who was behaving ignorant all this while suddenly started smiling and told the agent guy to leave it as he was also getting late. As he got down from the passengers seat, he spat a string load of abuses and threats on this driver. He pocketed 300 bucks and gave the remaining to the driver. Now I don know whether it was an expensive trip or not, but it was a very useful experience. Sometimes i feel the cabbies themselves are at the mercy of this so called agents and self proclaimed thugs. After all there are all kinds of rackets happening in India.

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by ptushar

Asked him to come at the exact same place where these two "Reasonable Rs 600 cabbies" were waiting. Made sure that they notice that I am getting into the Meru and drove off. Ah! The pleasure it gave me was worth every paisa I paid to Meru.

Nicely done!!! BTW these cabbies have gone mad. They and their autowallah brothers think they are corporate employees. Sharad Rao is asking minimum Rs 30000pm guaranteed salary for these folks. The other madcap demand is to prevent private vehicle registration in Mumbai to aid autowallah and cabbies

[Hurrycane12]

It happens in all the cities if you are not a local; they always gauge the person before demanding fares. I faced the situation a couple of times, once in Mumbai where being a local I was able to confront the chap.

In 2004 when I took a Auto from Airport to Khira Nagar - Santa Cruz (W), they driver after moving from the stand as we approached Centaur informed me that the fare would be Rs. 100/-, I told him to turn back and drop me from where he picked me if he is not charging by the meter. All that the Auto guy did was turn back to drop me on the stand I called the cop before getting off and informed him about the issue faced. The cop took care of the auto guy and put me into another one.

In Bangalore even after taking a per-paid Taxi I was forced to pay Rs. 50/- extra stating that the pre-paid charge is only till the starting point of the sector and not where he dropped me as this was the center of the sector. Could not argue after a long day and just paid the money.

[scopriobharath]

I ALWAYS do some spade-work if i am going to a new city / town.

DOs:

1. Check the distance from Airport to Hotel / Place of visit (Google Maps / GPS are best bets).
2. Get approx fares / cab rates from Internet / TBHP / Reviews.
3. Plan accordingly
4. Check with a localite at your base location. (Example Check with a Mumbaikar located in Bangalore if flying BLR-MUM)
5. Always use Pre-paid facility or use trusted Radio taxi Names like Meru, Tab Cab et all.
6. Get picked up by your hotel if their tariff is reasonable.
7. Hotel industry is very competitive nowadays and most hotels offer Complimentary Drop and Pickup from any termini (Bus / Rail /Air / Sea-Port)
8. Try to hire a Cab which is just dropping passengers

Donts:

1. Never Hire a cab bang-outside the railway station / bus station / airport
2. Never even look at the faces / try to strike a conversion with cabbies/agents/touts who surround you as soon as you walk out
3. Never answer anyone to where your destination is. Just nod your head in negative as soon as they come near you shouting "Taxi Sir" "Taxi Sir".

When i Shifted to Mumbai last year, I was accommodated initially at VITS Hotel (Marol Pipeline) and thier own hotel pickup quoted me 1250/- .

I googled for Meru and Guess what - I paid 152/- from Domestic Airport to VITS Hotel (Meter + Parking).

[S_U_N]

Taxi guys in Mumbai were good/ fair till a few years ago. But last few years, I think they are just as good/ bad as in other parts of the country.
Despite that, I find transport to be much cheaper in Mumbai than in other parts (e.g. Pune or Bangalore).

The suggestion from Jignesh is the easiest.
A navigation/ map software on smartphone will help us with the distance.
All we need to know is the per KM rate. For auto, it is typically 10 Rs./ KM (in Pune) and non-AC taxi is Rs. 15-16/ KM (in Mumbai).
Others can add more information.

I somehow never like to take pre-paid taxi/ auto since the rates are always higher by around 15-20%.
But if you have luggage, then you are handicapped and probably pre-paid is the best way.

[Lalvaz]

Really sad that Bombay, which once had a reputation for honest auto and taxi drivers has come to such a pass, but then, its a sign of the times. Too many politicians have got their greedy fingers in the auto and taxi unions, and the result is this mess. Forget about tourists, even most Bombayiites get cheated at Dadar, Bandra and Lokmanya Tilak railway terminuses. And the cops are usually in cahoots with these rogue drivers, to the extent that they penalize the few honest drivers and encourage these rascals. Sad to see my beloved city go from bad to worse with each passing day.

[rohitbagai]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

The suggestion from Jignesh is the easiest.
A navigation/ map software on smartphone will help us with the distance.

There is exactly an app for it. It's called meterdown has auto and taxi version.
More info at https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...meterdown.taxi
There are many such apps in the market

[Jignesh]

I believe this cheating by Auto Taxi Drivers happens in almost all the cities / towns of India. I have personally experienced this in Mumbai, Banglore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Jaipur, etc.

Earlier before 2009 there was no means but to rely on them, but now that we have smartphones, Google Maps & GPS can be our best saviours.

I would like to share my experience in Dubai, Beijing & Munich, I have taken Taxis in these cities & to my surprise, they never cheat. Infact in Beijing you are literally deaf & dumb, because the Taxi Driver does not understand why you say & you do not understand what he says. I just used to display my hotel card to him & I was taken to my destination everyday with almost the same fare.

But the moment I come back home & come out of Mumbai Airport, people are out there to cheat me. It seems strange that this happens to us in our home country by not in foreign country.

Thanks,

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by Jignesh

I would like to share my experience in Dubai, Beijing & Munich, I have taken Taxis in these cities & to my surprise, they never cheat. Infact in Beijing you are literally deaf & dumb, because the Taxi Driver does not understand why you say & you do not understand what he says. I just used to display my hotel card to him & I was taken to my destination everyday with almost the same fare.

Thanks,

Try Bangkok for cheats. The place is full of cheating cabbies and tuktuk wallas. Mumbai ones are far better