"How Middle Class Survives In Bengaluru": Ola Driver's Overcharging Upsets Mumbai Man

A Mumbai software engineer visiting Bengaluru booked an Ola auto from the City Station, but the journey turned awry when the driver cancelled the ride and demanded Rs 100 extra to take him to the destination.

Prashant Yadav, a senior frontend engineer at Razorpay, tweeted about his experience, which sparked a wave of anger among other such users.

"Got down at Banglore City station, booked an Ola auto, auto walla called me near him, cancelled the auto, and said sir Rs100 extra do what you see in Ola fir jaunga (pay me Rs 100 more than what the Ola fare is, and then I'll take you to your destination)," he wrote on Twitter.

"I wonder how the middle class survives in the city as they consider everyone wealthy," Mr Yadav added.

Got down at Banglore City station -> booked an Ola auto -> auto walla called me near him -> cancelled the auto and said sir 100 extra do what you see in Ola fir jaunga.

I wonder how middle class survive in the city as they consider every one wealthy techie.

— Prashant Yadav (@LearnersBucket) July 24, 2023

This tweet has opened a floodgate of comments from city dwellers and people who have been to the city. They talked about their experiences, which were somewhat comparable to Mr Yadav's.

"For the first time in Bangalore, a normal auto guy quoted Rs 1000 and was ready for the last price of 900. I booked an Ola auto, and this autowala was nice and dropped me at Rs 350, the same price as displayed on Ola. Some more cases, but not so nice. I have now stopped taking Auto," commented one user.

"They tend to do this a lot near stations; they take the metro if possible and book from there. They just want to scam you into thinking you're new. It has a lot less daily usage than many other cities," wrote another user.

"It's actually high time for people to consider taking bikes, cars, etc. if they are planning to live there even for a few years. It won't harm much, unlike how it's harming people daily, like in your case," commented a third user.