Only a Chennaite can digest the autofare hikes and live to tell the tale. One of the non understandable phenomena during my childhood days is the 'meter' that is seen in the auto rickshaws. Atleast back in those days they turn on the meter for namesake and I stare at the lights and its fast moving digits but kids nowadays might not even know that a meter exist in autos.
Years back these meters were ruled out by people as it runs faster than an Olympic athlete. But these lightening speed meter charges can never stand a chance with the amount quoted by the autowalas. Being a continuous victim of these high auto fare inflation, I try to take other means of public transportation like buses and share autos. Bad luck catches me all the time with commutation as there aren't any direct buses or share auto facility in my locality so most of the time, I solely depend on autos.
My recent encounter was yesterday when I tried to take an auto from express avenue, royapettah to Aminjikarai after which I thought of taking a 5 mins walk to home as I can save up to 50 bucks (Yes! you heard it right.. 50 bucks for half a kilometre extra. Reason: My house is located in the interior by only 2 streets). The 1st person asked me 230 rupees for 5.4 kms exact. Since I am brought up in Chennai, I didn't end up in a heart attack but was completely stuck with no words and walked far away. After 6 tries and 5 minutes of bargaining, I successfully got into an auto for 130 bucks. Oh wait! the worse is yet to come...
130 rupess for 5.4kms and the auto driver said 'Idhu nyayamana rate ma' which means it's a reasonable price. Seriously??? The literal translation for the word 'Nyayam' is 'Justice' and its too hard to digest. Here I did a fast calculation with his help of course. 1 litre petrol is 75 rupees and will give mileage of 24kms as he mentioned. He justified his charge by adding oil cost and return fare since he won't get any other customer for ride back home ( it was 8pm only). Including to and fro distance it will be 12 kms charging 37.5 rupees + oil+ driver charge + traffic = approximately 80 rupees and with usual dialogue 'meterku mela 10 rooba' (extra 10 rupees above meter charges), I would give 90 rupees but ended up giving 130 bucks and yet he called 'REASONABLE PRICE'. The word 'reasonable' is surely overrated.
Here is the map for the distance I travelled. Source: google maps.
Well what can I say? This is the story of every Chennaite who doesn't own a vehicle.
Preventive measures:
Few tips I can provide for effective bargaining: Do's and Dont's
1. Always always bargain for autofare in Chennai.
2. Even if you don't know Tamil, try using words like 'anna', 'illa' etc. Eg. Anna tnagar, Anna ambattur and if he says 100 rupees then say 'illa 70' , 'illa 80' etc.
3. Avoid wearing sun glasses. Trust me the rate will fall down up to 50% if you remove your sunglasses.
4. Men wearing tie, women wearing silk sarees and jewels should possess expert skills of negotiation.
5. Do not expose your urgency till your deal is fixed.
6. Don't be ashamed of leaving even 5 or 6 autos. Try, try till you get the right one.
7. While raining, act fast and get an auto while its still drizzling because heavy rains cause heavy charges.
8. A new auto service has been started in Chennai where they have meter facility and will provide you with bill also. Try such auto services.
Even after going through all this, we still like our autowalas. why? if you don't know the place, just give them the address and they will help you find the address and will make sure you reach the right place safely. Most of all you get autos at any time, anywhere but at their own fixed charge.
Hope one day some miracle happens in Chennai so that all autos run with meters on and charging actual 'reasonable price'
Good luck for your next auto journey ;)
Years back these meters were ruled out by people as it runs faster than an Olympic athlete. But these lightening speed meter charges can never stand a chance with the amount quoted by the autowalas. Being a continuous victim of these high auto fare inflation, I try to take other means of public transportation like buses and share autos. Bad luck catches me all the time with commutation as there aren't any direct buses or share auto facility in my locality so most of the time, I solely depend on autos.
My recent encounter was yesterday when I tried to take an auto from express avenue, royapettah to Aminjikarai after which I thought of taking a 5 mins walk to home as I can save up to 50 bucks (Yes! you heard it right.. 50 bucks for half a kilometre extra. Reason: My house is located in the interior by only 2 streets). The 1st person asked me 230 rupees for 5.4 kms exact. Since I am brought up in Chennai, I didn't end up in a heart attack but was completely stuck with no words and walked far away. After 6 tries and 5 minutes of bargaining, I successfully got into an auto for 130 bucks. Oh wait! the worse is yet to come...
130 rupess for 5.4kms and the auto driver said 'Idhu nyayamana rate ma' which means it's a reasonable price. Seriously??? The literal translation for the word 'Nyayam' is 'Justice' and its too hard to digest. Here I did a fast calculation with his help of course. 1 litre petrol is 75 rupees and will give mileage of 24kms as he mentioned. He justified his charge by adding oil cost and return fare since he won't get any other customer for ride back home ( it was 8pm only). Including to and fro distance it will be 12 kms charging 37.5 rupees + oil+ driver charge + traffic = approximately 80 rupees and with usual dialogue 'meterku mela 10 rooba' (extra 10 rupees above meter charges), I would give 90 rupees but ended up giving 130 bucks and yet he called 'REASONABLE PRICE'. The word 'reasonable' is surely overrated.
Here is the map for the distance I travelled. Source: google maps.
Preventive measures:
Few tips I can provide for effective bargaining: Do's and Dont's
1. Always always bargain for autofare in Chennai.
2. Even if you don't know Tamil, try using words like 'anna', 'illa' etc. Eg. Anna tnagar, Anna ambattur and if he says 100 rupees then say 'illa 70' , 'illa 80' etc.
3. Avoid wearing sun glasses. Trust me the rate will fall down up to 50% if you remove your sunglasses.
4. Men wearing tie, women wearing silk sarees and jewels should possess expert skills of negotiation.
5. Do not expose your urgency till your deal is fixed.
6. Don't be ashamed of leaving even 5 or 6 autos. Try, try till you get the right one.
7. While raining, act fast and get an auto while its still drizzling because heavy rains cause heavy charges.
8. A new auto service has been started in Chennai where they have meter facility and will provide you with bill also. Try such auto services.
Even after going through all this, we still like our autowalas. why? if you don't know the place, just give them the address and they will help you find the address and will make sure you reach the right place safely. Most of all you get autos at any time, anywhere but at their own fixed charge.
Hope one day some miracle happens in Chennai so that all autos run with meters on and charging actual 'reasonable price'
Good luck for your next auto journey ;)
