Murugan, Chennai's 'good samaritan' auto driver, speaks to NDTV
Zubaida was pleasantly surprised when the autorickshaw driver said to her as she got into the vehicle at Chennai's Valasarawakkam area, "Pay me by the meter".
On reaching her home around three kilometres away, he collected Rs 34. Meet Murugan. One of the few auto drivers in Chennai who have already calibrated their metres to the new tariffs fixed by the government a week ago.
Zubaida, a 45 year-old homemaker, says, "Autos charge me Rs 80 for this distance normally. Murugan's meter tariff is less than 50 per cent of that".
The Tamil Nadu government had last fixed tariff for autorickshaws seven years ago. In all these years, most autorickshaws in Chennai have over-charged passengers as there was no metre system.
The new tariff scheme was introduced on orders of the Supreme Court. It stipulates that Rs 25 be charged for the first 1.8 km and Rs 12 for every additional kilometre.
In the last week, Murugan's daily collection of about a thousand rupees has dropped by half. But he is optimistic that things will get better.
"Once people get the confidence that we collect only the fixed tariff, we will get return trips after every drop. That will make up for this loss."
Unlike Murugan, most other autorickshaw drivers in the city refuse to charge by the meter. At Chennai's Central Railway station passengers continue to be fleeced. Many like Kamalam, a Chennai resident back from a vacation, say they prefer to hail a taxi, to arguing with an auto driver.
Tamil Nadu has more than two lakh autos, 70,000 of which ply in Chennai, most of them owned by politicians and policemen, a powerful combination that has ensured that travel by the meter is not enforced, allege angry commuters.
Auto drivers say struggle to make ends meet. "Prices of all essential commodities are rising. How do we pay house rent and meet other expenses with metre tariff?" asked a driver. They say they will charge by the meter if the government revises tariff every time petrol prices go up.