Netizens slam auto fare hike in Bengaluru, cite fleecing with meters off | Bengaluru News

Bengaluru: The state govt’s decision to greenlight a hike in autorickshaw fares has hit a raw nerve among the city’s commuters, who are already struggling with soaring travel costs and shrinking transport options in the tech capital.With effect from Aug 1, the minimum auto fare within BBMP limits will rise from Rs 30 to Rs 36 for the first 2km, and every subsequent kilometre of ride will cost Rs 18. But the hike has not gone down well with the public. Reacting tersely to the hike, netizen Deepak stated on X: “It is a big joke on hapless passengers who are already victims of autorickshaw drivers who never go by the meter, refuse to ply and demand excess fare.” Joining him, fellow netizen Harish described the hike as a ‘big joke of the decade’ as autorickshaw drivers never ply by switching on the meters.In fact, when @TOIBengaluru asked on X if the hike was justified, many equated it to legalising daylight robbery. There are around 3.6 lakh autorickshaws plying in the city, of these only a few hundred go by the meter. A majority of the autorickshaw drivers either fleece passengers by quoting fares randomly or, with regard to vehicles linked to aggregators, do accept rides till the tip offered is high. Netizens asked: “How much more should we shell out just to get around the city?”—–Quotes with mug shotsI take an auto from Doddakallasandra Metro station to my home at Uttarahalli. Autos are an important and crucial part of everyone’s life for commuting. The fares are already quite high. Even my kids say auto fares have become too expensive. The rates have gone up further after the bike-taxi ban. A ride that usually costs Rs 60 now comes to Rs 80. I understand that auto drivers also need to earn a living, but this is unfair to commuters. It’s high time the govt looked into providing more feeder buses so that people like me can avoid paying such high fares-Prodip Kumar Mukherjee, Uttarahalli resident———-I take an auto from MG Road to my college. I take autos when there are no buses available. The current situation is already bad with auto drivers not coming unless and until we give them extra tips on online apps. Now the future hike will definitely burn a big hole in our pockets. We are students, and this is not fair on the govt side to do so-Pooja M, medical student—————-Autos ask for almost double the fare, sometimes. That’s why we choose buses to travel. But the buses don’t come on time, which leaves us with no choice but to take autos. It’s one of the crucial means of commuting in my everyday life. A fare hike will make autos unaffordable for students like me. After Metro and bus (fare increases) earlier, now it’s autos. What more does the govt want to do? We haven’t seen many using meters as well-Nishchitha Reddy, medical student——-I belong to the middle class. No matter what, our lives feel doomed because of price hikes everywhere. Whatever the cost, we always look for the cheapest option — otherwise, we simply can’t manage. We can’t do anything about the hike-Mahadevaswamy, real estate consultant——People are already not preferring autos, claiming that fares are high and this hike only forces them to avoid autos. I don’t know how the govt went ahead with this decision without consulting all auto unions. This will mainly affect those auto drivers who are not working directly under any aggregators. The public already has a negative opinion on auto drivers in Bengaluru and this adds more negativity– NG Santhosh Kumar, state president, Snehajeevi Chalakara Trade Union———-Box 1How much more you will have to payCategoriesRevised fareCurrent fare For the first 2 km3630Subsequent rate per km1815Waiting charge for first 5 minutes) Free—Waiting charge after 5 minutes 10—Passenger baggage charge for the first 20 kgFree—Passenger baggage charge after 20kg10—Night fare (10pm to 5am)Normal fare + half the normal fare—Figures in rupeesSource: Regional Transport Authority, Bangalore Urban