In the absence of strict regulatory enforcement, especially during peak post-sunset hours, daily commuters find themselves entirely at the mercy of unauthorised fare revisions and unpredictable route truncations.
In major transit corridors, including Behala, Rashbehari, Taratala, Gariahat, and Jadavpur, operators have countered rising overheads by introducing unannounced fare revisions.
The daily panic peaks right as office hours end. When the sun goes down, standard transit guidelines seem to vanish, connecting the Metro stations to the southern residential extensions. Commuters are forced to choose between punishing wait times for government buses or paying arbitrary premiums demanded by autorickshaw drivers.
“I’m a regular passenger who travels from Rashbehari to Behala. After 6 pm on most days, there is a shortage of autorickshaws on this route. The normal fare of Rs 30 suddenly rises to Rs 35 or even Rs 40 because of the huge rush. This creates an additional burden for daily commuters. Although government buses are available, after a hectic day at work, it is not always comfortable or practical to travel by crowded buses. So many of us depend on autorickshaws to get home,” said a woman in her 20s.
For women travelling during the chaotic evening rush hour, the lack of reliable autorickshaws is an issue. Even though bus rides are free for women, massive crowds, long waiting times, and fixed routes mean women can’t actually rely on them to get home safely and quickly after dark.
Rakhi Rudra, a housewife on the Rashbehari–Behala route, stated: “Getting an autorickshaw after 6 pm has become extremely difficult now. While government buses are free for women, it is not possible to depend on them every day because of long waiting times and route constraints.”
For commuters residing on the fringes, like Aditto Bandhopadhyay on the Garia–Rakshit More route, the fare hike has severely inflated daily travel expenses for last-mile connectivity.
Aditto Bandhopadhyay, a college student and an office worker who regularly uses the Garia–Rakshit More route, says, “I live far from the main road and depend heavily on autorickshaws for daily commute to manage my studies and work. The fare hike has increased my daily travel expenses significantly and has put additional pressure on my monthly budget.”
In the Dum Dum sector, commercial LPG rates experienced an 83 per cent surge over the last quarter, disproportionately affecting contract drivers who operate rented vehicles.
For these autorickshaw operators, the daily target required just to break even has scaled to unsustainable heights. Even before a single rupee can be taken home to feed a family, drivers must account for heavy daily fuel allocations alongside fixed vehicle rentals due to owners.
“Over the last 45 days, commercial LPG prices rose by Rs 46, reaching Rs 89.40 per kg. At present, it stands at Rs 89.40. It has become very difficult to make ends meet lately,” said Gautam Kamila, an autorickshaw driver on the 3rd Unit BG Press Goragacha route.
Subhash Mondal, who operates on the Behala–Rashbehari route, said the fuel cost escalated from Rs 54 to nearly Rs 90. Fares on this route were increased from Rs 25 to Rs 30.”
‘Optimisation as an economic necessity’
Autorickshaw drivers defend the optimisation as an economic necessity. Zakir Hussain, operating on the Taratala-Rashbehari-Gariahat stretch, stated, “Autorickshaws run on gas, not water. We had no option but to adjust fares to survive.”
Suparna Ghosh, a single mother who commutes along the Manton–B.G. Press route, said that bus fare rose from Rs 12 to Rs 14, alongside a new enforcement where young children are charged full fare rather than traveling free on a parent’s lap, adding an immense financial burden.
Simultaneously, fuel-conservation tactics such as “short-routing” are on the rise. College student Bidit Banerjee said that autorickshaws on the Rabindra Sarobar Metro–Jadavpur Thana route frequently terminate services prematurely at South City to maximize quick turnarounds, compounding transit uncertainty for evening commuters and students.
Moving north toward the city’s peripheral boundaries, Drivers here describe spending hours in grueling refuel lines, which reduces their overall daily trip volumes and leaves a massive deficit of available vehicles on the streets when passenger volume is at its highest.
Boom of electric e-rickshaws
Juba Sau, an autorickshaw operator on the 10-km Madhyamgram Choumatha–BT Road Station circuit, explained that a single trip requires one kilogram of gas costing Rs 90, while the legally mandated fare is frozen at Rs 25. Compounding this structural deficit is the unregulated boom of electric e-rickshaws, locally known as Totos, which operate completely outside the strict tax and compliance frameworks governing commercial autorickshaws.
“A Toto incurs an electricity cost of roughly Rs 50 per charge, whereas we require Rs 600 to Rs 700 for a gas cylinder. They systematically undercut our reserve transit market, offering rides at Rs 80 where our baseline requirement is Rs 200,” said Subhajit Haldar, a driver.
Drivers assert they cannot feed their families under the weight of the LPG crisis, while commuters watch their fixed monthly budgets fall apart on the short walk from the metro gates to the autorickshaw stands.
” I understand that passengers are unhappy about the fare hike. However, gas prices have also risen sharply. We have to survive and support our families in this economy” said Dulal Sarkar, an autorickshaw driver on 3rd Unit Tramdipo/Senpally/B.G Prese.
College students say they face the problem of transport fare hike as they have a limited budget to follow every month. Many commuters are facing problems because autorickshaws are not covering certain routes as frequently as before; for example, on the Rabindra Sarobar Metro–Jadavpur Thana route, many drivers only go up to South City instead of completing the full route. “This has made daily travel more uncertain and inconvenient, especially during the evening hours, while the higher fares put additional pressure on students like me,” said a commuter.
(Subhosree Modak and Antoreep Das are interns with The Indian Express)
In major transit corridors, including Behala, Rashbehari, Taratala, Gariahat, and Jadavpur, autorickshaw drivers have countered rising overheads by introducing unannounced fare revisions.(Express: Photo by Subhosree Modak) 
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