After living abroad for 7 years I came back to India last year. I started to work for a company in the Goregaon area of Mumbai. The first 2 months of work I travelled by rickshaw, it was a 35 minute ride from the place where I lived. Since it was a routine ride I knew the exact fare each way – Rupees 85-95 depending on traffic. Very soon I realised that for every 10 rides I would come across at least 4 autos where meter were faulty and overcharged me by 10-15%. This extra charge by no means was acceptable to be paid. At the moment of paying I had mixed feelings on how I should be handling the situation – I didn’t want to pay extra and be a part of his crime nor did I want to be overly aggressive as humans may do wrong things under certain circumstances (e.g. poverty, greed) which they would later feel ashamed of. So after a little thinking I tried something new. Below is how usually the ordeal ended.
Me “What is your name, bhai (brother)?”
Driver looks in the rear view mirror “{his name}”
Me (politely with a little smile) “Please look at me, ……… and tell me if anyone else other than you drive this rickshaw?”
Driver “yes my brother (or a friend) … why?”
Me (with a serious tone) “Do you know that your brother has tinkered around with the meter? You seem to be a nice person, but with no fault of your own you may end up in jail. Do you know that?” I wait for some time but none responded to this.
Me “I usually pay 90 Rupees and that is what I will pay you. And you better get that meter fixed before you get in to trouble.”
Some drivers opologised. Some confessed that they were aware that the meter was tinkered and that they will change it(?), others acted dumb and said nothing. In the end all except one driver took what I had offered them.
By doing this I thought I was trying to wake them up from ‘inside’. I believe that if change has to come it has to come from within, any other way and the effects will be only temporary. Honestly, I will never know if they really changed for good but what I know is that at least once I was able to make them ask this question to themselves “Am I doing the right thing?”. I hope that I changed the mindset of at least one person.
Did I do the right thing?
Some of you may be asking this question “why didn’t you report this to the police? ” In one such instance I did. The results? Not totally dissapointing! But it failed me to call them up again for matters like this. You can read that experience in the next part of the “Autorickshaw overcharging Part 2“. Other methods like thrashing the driver, rediculing him etc. are not my choices – its like breaking the law myself! Such methods end up spreading hate amongst ourselves.
Did you ever face such a situation? What did you do?
Bonus material
- Here are 2 telephone numbers set up for Thane, Maharashtra area to recieve complaints related with rickshaws. These numbers are +912225424936 and +912225401056. If you have already used these numbers then please share your experience with other visitors for their benefit. There are 2 more numbers setup to register complaints like illegal parking, traffic jams, note that these numbers are SMS ONLY for Thane area, Maharashtra: +919594116116 and +919594115115.
- Think all rickshaw drivers/owners are cheating on you? Don’t! Suvendu Roy shares his ride about a rickshawallah who cares a lot about you!
Thanks for article. Everytime like to read you.
Jinny
Thank you Jinny,
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Hope to catch you around again
Vivek Deshmukh