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Journalism of Courage
People often complain about autorickshaw drivers charging exorbitant fares even for short distances, especially in Bengaluru. While autorickshaws have meters to calculate fares, the drivers often do not use them.
A man shared his experience of being charged Rs 100 for an autorickshaw ride of only 500 m in Bengaluru. Mandar Natekar, who is the co-founder and CEO of Neural Garage according to his Twitter bio, posted a photo of the auto meter and said it was the “most ornamental thing in Bengaluru”. He claimed that in Mumbai, Rs 100 is the fare for approximately 9 km.
“In this photo you will see the most ornamental thing in Bengaluru. The great Auto Meter. So expensive that it never gets used. I just paid 100Rs for a 500 mtrs ride. To give perspective, in Mumbai 100Rs is the meter fare for approx 9 kms,” Natekar tweeted.
In another tweet in the thread, Natekar shared a photo of another autorickshaw that did not even have a meter. “And now this gentleman is in a different league altogether! He has not even bothered to install a meter! I take my hat off to the wonderful auto drivers in Bengaluru,” he wrote.
“It’s practically the same for every city outside mumbai. Chennai is notorious for its auto rides,” commented a user. “In Mumbai though you get an auto by meter. But roads are in such a bad shape and so much traffic. Potholes on every road. If you travel long distances, u will definitely start having back problems,” said another.
“Such people should walk the 500 meters… It will take about 7-10 minutes… This is like complaining “Samsung charges 15000 while iPhone charges 90000,” another user commented.
However, Natekar responded that he had been advised not to walk because of a medical problem. “Normally I would not respond to people like you but since you judged and made a personal comment, I have a medical problem due to which I am not allowed to walk if it can be avoided. And even if I did not, I have every right to decide if I want to walk or not,” he wrote.
