Bloody Auto Drivers

Harassment by Auto Drivers is not a new thing. But with time, some of the strategies to exhort more money are also changing.

Consider this, a friend of mine took an auto to her residence. The auto driver all through the journey made conversation with her & told her things like, “I like the way you dress. These days women dress so disgustingly”, “You are like my sister” & so on. My friend as anyone else in her position kept quiet & just patiently waited to reach her destination. On reaching her destination, the auto driver who hadn’t demanded anything extra at the time of engaging the auto, suddenly made an emotional plea for extra bucks. All the talk through the journey was only to bring in that emotional connect, it seemed.

In another instance, the auto driver demanded extra money above the meter charge. When I refused, another auto driver who was with him & until now just a mute spectator offered to ride me to my place just for the meter charge. Happy that someone had decided to be fair to me, I took the auto. At the end of the journey, I made the mistake of giving him a 100-rupee note. Smart that he was he withheld an extra Rs 10. When I demanded for the ten bucks he said, that it was agreed. No amount of arguing got me the 10 bucks & I left the place & the auto & the auto driver fuming with anger & desperation.

These strategies & others like these are taking a lot of people off guard. And it has become increasing difficult to trust these auto drivers, as we don’t know what is in store.

Considering that autos are one of the most widely used means of public transportation in Bangalore, it is time that the Auto unions, the police & other agencies did something to deal with such cases.

Some time back when I used to frequently commute in autos I noticed that there would be a message inside for the passenger, which would read, “In case the driver demands excess money, kindly report to the nearest police station”. Not too sure if there are any such messages any more and even if it is, not too sure if they really serve any purpose.

That said, every auto should default have the following available on the inside of the auto:

- The registration number of the auto
- The Auto Driver’s Name & Photo
- The contact number of a centralized ‘grievance against auto drivers’ cell.

The public should be educated to call the grievance cell & lodge a complaint against the auto driver by giving the details like the registration number of the auto, the drivers name & photo. With this may be I will still pay the auto driver the extra money, but by reporting it to the grievance cell I’ am enabling the authorities to take certain action against the driver. May be if there are more than say, 5 grievances against the same person then the police can take action against the auto drivers.

The details inside the auto will also help the passenger to recollect the details of the auto he traveled in if required. How many of us even bother to check the auto’s registration number or even give a second glance at the auto driver’s face? With both these details plus his name available inside the auto, one will at least look at it once & may be able to recollect a part of it later if required.

Also, to be on the safer side, women passengers should take some precautions themselves.

- Take an auto where the auto driver is a middle aged person
- Make a note of the auto’s registration number & message the same to a friend/colleague
- Avoid conversation with the driver especially if he is touching upon topics like your dress, how you look etc
- If the conversation or anything in the auto is disturbing you, pick up your phone & call somebody. In the conversation give details about where you are, what is happening etc.

Considering how the whole system is lackadaisical to this growing menace, its time that we public bring in measures ourselves to safeguard us from the harassment of the bloody auto drivers.