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I’m not surprised that self-immolation bids, indefinite strike threats and protests to raise the minimum fare are leaving Bangaloreans stone cold There are few sympathisers for autorickshaw
drivers and their ilk these days. I’m not surprised that self-immolation bids, indefinite strike threats and protests to raise the minimum fare are leaving Bangaloreans stone cold. And why
not, hapless commuters who have been subjected to years of unchecked tyranny are now left with no hope, save for some caped hero vigilante types, to put the brakes on arrogant auto drivers.
But, there’s a bigger reason behind the rage — no one who has the power to punish, seems to care. Calls to 24x7 auto helplines go unanswered, transport offices don’t work at night, e-mails
to authorities are not acknowledged, cops won’t intervene though harassment goes on under their noses and complaint cards, well, few have heard of them. Over 80,000 autorickshaws ply in the
city, and yet barely a handful will take you from point A to point B with out traumatising you first. Many commuters often meekly acquiesce to being hassled just to get to somewhere on time.
A transport official tells me that on an average, around 15 lakh people in the city travel by autorickshaw per day, “Yet there are only around 20,000 registered cases per year just for
‘refusal to ply’. Multiply that number by ten and it can be a real figure because most drivers don’t stick around long enough for you to note their registration numbers.” I’m even told that
one auto rickshaw driver has 150 plus cases lined up against him. How he still has a license and is driving around on Bangalore’s roads remains a mystery to me. But now, there’s an offbeat
type of counter-resistance to the auto hegemony here and I’m happy to say it’s spreading. One elderly Bangalorean is so fed up of filing refusal to ply’ complaints, that she now, ‘cheats the
cheaters’. “I just tell them the name of the furthest destination in my direction and then mid-way I tell them to stop when I see the traffic policeman near my house. If they shout or
harass me, I tell the cop they are troubling an old lady. It gives me such pleasure when the boot is on the other foot.” A young techie takes at least two autorickshaw drivers to the police
station near his home each week. ‘A painted sign inside their autos states that if the driver demands an excess fare he should be taken to the nearest police station, I do just that and they
have to keep quiet because they don’t want any problems with the police’, he laughs.” A Facebook community called ‘Rage Against The Rickshaws’ has attracted over 150 angst-ridden
Bangaloreans in the few weeks that it has been up. Its creator Nikhil Narayanan, who also has a blog titled Thugs on Wheels, regularly lists numbers of the wrongdoers. One of the RATR status
message reads, “And yes, we have just touched 100 Registration numbers of errant auto drivers. Mister Commissioner, here we come.” Consumer campaigner Kiran P Rao says its time to fight
back, “Complain aggressively. Some RTOs receive only 5-10 complaints a month so authorities think the problem is not so severe. Arm your phone with all the numbers you need, police control
rooms, help lines… and protest doggedly. Be very assertive; I have seen many an autorickshaw driver back off when you stare him in the eye and tell him you know your rights. If they defy you
to complain or take them to the police, do it, only then will they know they can’t bully you and me anymore.”