Crib about rude auto drivers on Facebook

Crib about rude auto drivers on Facebook
By: Bindiya Carmeline thomas Date: 2010-07-22 Place: Bangalore




Facebook community called Rage Against The Rickshaws attracts 117 anguished Bangaloreans in three weeks

With auto drivers driving on faulty meters and demanding double the metered amount after 9 pm, a Facebook community called Rage Against The Rickshaws is attracting several anguished Bangaloreans.

The community, which was created three weeks ago, already has 117 members.

The administrator of the page Nikhil Narayanan (28), a copywriter, said, "I was so tired of the constant struggle to get rickshaws that I created this page. On one occasion, even calling the traffic police control room did not help.


M Manjunath, president of Adarsh Auto Drivers Union, confirmed that out of 80,000 autos in Bangalore, around 25,000 make life difficult for customers


We have already collected numbers of 90 rickshaws who refused fare. We plan to pass them to the authorities once we cross 100."

Swati Mehta (24), a resident of Ulsoor, and a member of the community, said, "Once, I was physically threatened.

I called the police control room but nothing came of it. I was even given a help-line number by the cops that never works."

Broken meters

Reon Anthony (28), a software engineer from Madivala, said, "Drivers demand to be paid extra when I venture out early in the morning. I took a rickshaw that had a broken meter once and I ended up paying double the usual fare."

M Manjunath, president, Adarsh Auto Drivers Union, said, "Such behaviour is not the norm. I would say 20 per cent of our drivers are like that.

Our union members neither charge extra nor do they refuse customers. There are 80,000 autos in Bangalore of which around 25,000 make life difficult for customers." He added, "We have 12,000 members and all comply with the rules.

Those autos carry red and white stickers inside and the drivers wear badges. We will take action against them if they misbehave but we can't do anything about the other drivers."

Manjunath also added, "To encourage good behavior every year on Kannada Rajyotsava Day we hand out prizes and cash awards to the best auto driver.

This is determined by how many times a driver returns valuables that are left behind."

80,000
The number of autorickshaws in Bangalore