Prepaid autorickshaw drivers

ploink

Please help me to understand prepaid autorickshaw drivers.

I felt that some (many?) of the prepaid autorickshaw drivers had a side business of their own. Take folks to a destination for the prepaid fare, then try ripping them off by asking to drive them further for a ridiculous fare, hoping they don't have a clue of how far the further destination is.

-ploink goes to the prepaid autorickshaw booth and pays for a drive to "destination"
-the autorickshaw driver drives ploink to "destination"

The End?

No, the autorickshaw driver insists on waiting for ploink, asking for a ridiculous fare for a drive to "further destination", the distance of which from "destination" ploink knows is much less than the distance of "destination" from the prepaid booth.

Or, arriving somewhere, ploink takes a prepaid autorickshaw to a ho(s)tel. ploink makes it very clear she'll spend the rest of the day enjoying banana lassis in the rooftop restaurant of the ho(s)tel, but the rickshaw driver insists on sightseeing + shopping tours, and on waiting for ploink in case she changes her mind. Fifteen minutes later, ploink notices the driver is still in front of the hostel, waiting for ploink, or a(n other) unsuspecting ho(s)tel guest.


I suppose it isn't illegal , and they must make a living, but I was surprised (and annoyed ) to experience such behaviour from prepaid autorickshaw drivers - aren't they supposed to be on my side?

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Karma Queen

thats india. full of good theories and ideas, but nothing will ever go smoothly!

crvlvr

In which city did you experience this? Auto driver behaviour can vary from city to city. In some cities, it is strictly by meter.

byronic

In Uttar Pradesh I had a pedal rickshaw driver wait 3 or 4 hours for me just for a ride back to the hotel. I told him he didn't have to, yet he insisted. This driver never asked for extra compensation and by all rights he is not owed any extra compensation for his loyalty and patience. I was so impressed by his service and good will I think I did tip him an extra 50rs at the end of the ride.
Now if the guy had been a pain in the ass, I would have paid him for his service, gave him a piece of MY mind, and then taken a different rickshaw ASAP.
Travel is about getting good service from the service sector, not saying you will get it all the time though. Don't let people take advantage of you, and in turn don't take advantage of others. OMG I'm starting to rant now... I'll shut up here

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LuAnnandJawahar

They are on your side. They are waiting to see if you need further service.

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Reject violence.

Nick-H

If you don't want to pay what they ask walk away. There'll be another along soon enough.

But where is our elusive Ploink?

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

ploink

Oh, I've used the "what a wonderful weather for a walk" trick plenty of times.

I just cannot help marvelling at the drivers' willingness to serve if that is what one is expected to do.
Not that I wouldn't pay for service when payment is due.

kiwi_razz

Personally, I think autorickshaw drivers get a bad rap. If you have a bad experience from one or two doesn't mean that some (many?) are the same.

I've only ever had one rickshaw take me "the long way". And only one riskshaw stop halfway through and ask me if I wanted to go to a shop. And I think I must have taken 100s of rickshaw rides. In the first case, I paid what the journey should have been, and the second I told him if he didn't take me where I wanted to go I would get out of the riskshaw and get another one.

Sure, I'm in Bangalore and don't have a backpack which screams "please rip me off" but even when I go away for weekends I seem to more often than not actually befriending rickshaw drivers and touts and have a really awesome experience.

btw the ultimate rickshaw journey I've had was 10Rs for Hospet to Hampi (no strings attached). That's cheaper than the bus.

Nick-H

Kiwi-Razz, perhaps we'ed better start the anti-ant-autorickshaw brigade!

Even though Chnnai autos are apparently more expensive than anywhere else, and even local people grumble about them, mostly my experience is that they are just fine.

agni5454

Never go Pre-paid anything in India; hence the pre-paid idea is such a great gamble if you are a tourist in india or in any other place for that matter. Just trust your gut

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kiwi_razz

Well, at Bangalore City Railway Station (Majestic) at about 5am/6am on a Monday morning, the prepaid auto stand has a queue usually about 30-50 people long, so it doesn't seem like a bad idea to me.

Also, I've used prepaid autos all around Delhi and it was a breeze. Honestly, I don't see what people have got wrong with them.

The only time a 'prepaid auto/taxi' is a bad idea is when it isn't necessarily an official one, ie it is really just a private taxi company.

btw, I was in Sri Lanka a couple of weeks ago, and if you think the autos in India are bad then Sri Lanka is worse. You're looking at 30-50Rs/km (equiv 15-25INR) compared to say Bangalore which is 5INR/km.

Personally I feel if you:
- know where you're going and roughly how much it should cost (give or take a little)
- realise that demand and supply does affect rates (ie once I refused a 70Rs auto to go home and then spent the next half an hour getting soaked in the rain)
- don't worry about that extra 5-10Rs
- have a zen quality
- treat people as human beings (yes that includes rickshaw drivers)
- and if you just cannot get a sensible quote for your journey, then walk out of the train station/airport environs and down the road about 20-30m and flag one down yourself
then you should be okay.

Special caution though - I would never get in a rickshaw waiting outside an ATM (and when I have made a withdrawl). Walk down the road a little and then flag one down.

ploink

I've had some (many?) autorickshaw drives, but I gave one or two examples only.
And in the spirit of , not , my fellow IMers.

For most of the drives, I didn't have my backpack with me, but I suppose a woman as pale as the moon with a faltering Hinglish and an ill-fitting salwar kameez screams "tourist to be ripped off" wherever she is - why else would they ask me to pay xxx rupees for a five-kilometre drive if I just pre-paid x rupees for a 15-kilometre drive.


Yes, I met terrific autorickshaw drivers who went out of their way to help me, but admittedly I was annoyed by some (many?) of the drivers *gasp* - I didn't necessarily show my annoyance. I haggled, I smiled, I laughed, I walked away.


And I thought the "Scams and annoyances" forum is to share these seriocomic (annoyocomic?) experiences.
I may yet share my terrific autorickshaw drivers experiences in other forums.

Just give me some time (and money ) for further travels to India and I may yet become Saint Patience.

If the pope approves, that is.

Cheers, ploink

EDIT: Good advice, kiwi_razz, advice I tried to follow when I was India and will try to follow when I'm in India again.

kiwi_razz

lol.

Anyway, officially my beatification obviously can't start until I'm dead.

St kiwi_razz, patron saint of rickshaw drivers (and their pale-moon faced passengers).

Layman

As an Indian, even I have had situations where the auto-driver is willing to wait for hours (for no charge) for my return trip. This happens when I have engaged the auto for a long drive (100 rupees or more) and the driver prefers to have a similar long drive return fare, rather than go out looking for other customers who may want to go short distance only.

On another note, I used to think the pre-paid auto scheme at railway stations was fool-proof, but got into a situation which exposed a loop-hole. At the Bangalore railway station, you pay one rupee and get a printed pre-paid fare (say 75 rupees) that you have to pay the auto driver once you reach your destination. I have had no issues most times. Once, the auto ran out of CNG gas mid-way and since there were no CNG refill shops nearby, I had to abandon the auto after paying him for taking me part of the distance. Now, the auto-driver had not turned his meter on (as it was a pre-paid fare), and I had no idea how much I should pay him, so I had to trust his estimate. To compound things, the auto had broken down after 10pm in the night, and by law fares are 1.5 times the normal fare between 10pm and sometime in the morning, so I had to pay 1.5 times for the remaining distance to the second auto that took me to my destination. In all, I paid up far more than I should have paid, had the pre-paid scheme worked smoothly.

I believe the breakdown of the first auto was genuine, but it exposes a loop-hole in the whole pre-paid scheme, even at the best of times and even for locals.

ploink

I wonder what kind of impression it would make on the autorickshaw drivers if I'd throw a prayer at
when they hassle me.

"Oh, St. kiwi_razz, aid us to strike a mutually beneficial deal..."