AUTOCRACY

AUTOCRACY
Things can’t get worse for the city’s publings. Conniving auto drivers and traffic police are cashing in on hapless tipplers when they return home after a night of making merry
SAMEER RANJAN BAKSHI


If you are a regular tippler, there’s very little going your way on your way home. If the cops don’t get you, the autos surely will!
The fleecing by the ever-resourceful duo has become more brazen, and for those looking for some fun and nightlife on M G Road or Garuda Mall, the two popular hotspots, things have turned bleaker.
The pre-paid autorickshaw kiosks, which are supposed to open from 8 am to 10 pm, close earlier in all important city areas except railway stations, forcing people to pay double rather than the prescribed one-and-a-half meter charge.
DRINK AND PAY
Abhishek Korbu, a regular visitor to pubs in and around M G Road, said, “It is terrible, you won’t find a pre-paid auto even before 10 pm. Most autos charge double and we can’t use our own bikes. It’s a Catch-22 situation for us.”
At Garuda Mall, the situation is the same, with an auto driver confessing that the pre-paid kiosk closed before the 10 pm deadline.
Uday Kiran, a software engineer, said, “I once looked for a pre-paid auto and found the place closed. To my surprise, the traffic police was checking for drunken driving close by! We are forced to either pay a hefty amount to cops or to autos.”
POLICE NOT INNOCENT
Which brings us to the topic of traffic cops and auto drivers working hand-in-hand in this nighttime looting. Says Russel Ashe, general manager of a prominent pub on Brigade Road, “The cops and auto drivers are obviously working together in fleecing people. It’s not just our clients who are affected, our business has also fallen because of this.” But not all pre-paid kiosks in the city followed the routine.
Number of autos
plying in the city 85 , 000 Number of registered auto drivers in the city
1.1 Lakh STATIONS BETTER
A check by Bangalore Mirror revealed that the situation was better at the pre-paid kiosks at the city’s railway stations, which unlike others are expected to remain function 24 hours.
While the kiosk at the Cantonment station was closed at 1 pm, the city and the Yeshwantpur pre-paid kiosks were found to be open even afterwards. Shivanna, a traffic cop at Yeshwantpur kiosk, said, “We are open 24 hours.”
An auto driver near the City Railway Station also confirmed that the kiosk was open all night. “Normally, the operator does not close the kiosk but sleeps for some time when there are no trains slated for arrival. But he reopens it again at 3 am when the early morning trains arrive.”
When contacted, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Praveen Sood, said that he doesn’t deal with the day-today traffic matters.
Another senior official of the Traffic department said that since the pubs were open till 11 pm, the kiosks should also be kept open till then for citizens.
PRE-PAID KIOSKS

• M G Road, Shivaji Nagar, Commercial Street and Cubbon Park kiosks managed by the traffic police

• Garuda Mall and Forum Mall managed by respective malls assisted by the traffic cops

• City, Cantonment and Yeshwantpur railway station kiosks managed by railway authorities
HOW DRIVERS JUSTIFY FLEECING
During the day, we have to spend half our time in the traffic.We earn less. But at night, we don’t go to sleep and work. So there’s no harm in asking for more at night. It is risky too for us to be working in the night. Moreover, there is no steady flow of passengers. So we ask for more.
DOUBLE FARE FOR GIRLS
Last Sunday, our reporter arrived from Mysore at the City Railway Station along with her two brothers. They went to the pre-paid stand at Okalipuram side, where the counter was closed.The time was 11:50 pm as the Cauvery Express was delayed. There were autorickshaws and an auto driver demanded Rs 200 for the trip to Rajajinagar that normally costs Rs 63.50. When the brother asked why he was charging so much, he said, “There’s a girl with you!”
(WITH INPUTS FROM DEEPTHI M R AND SUCHITH KIDIYOOR)