Landed at Central yesterday morning after the usual weekend at Kerala. It is drizzling lightly which makes me abandon the usual plan to walk over to Park station to catch the electric train to Nungambakkam. The other option is hailing an auto, but knowing the humongous rates they demand, it is going to be a pain haggling with them. But I don't have an umbrella and don't want to get wet. So, hail an auto, tell him the destination and from habit ask "Evlavu ?" // "How much?" in English.
To my utter surprise, he says, "Saar, as per meter. Please get in" and turns on the meter. Once I am seated, he says, "The RTO guys / cops are nearby and you are asking me "How much?". If they had heard it, would be a big problem for me. As it is the cops are worried that they are not getting enough defaulters to penalise"
Along the way home, I keep checking the meter and it is working like clockwork - Rs25 for the first 1.8kms and then Rs12 for every subsequent km. I reach my place and the meter is showing a few bucks less than Rs.100 for the ~8km distance, which is exactly as per the new fare. Give him another 15 bucks just for the joy of seeing an untampered auto-meter in action in Chennai - I think the last time I saw a meter running in Chennai was sometime in the mid-90s. :-)
And to think that these guys used to charge anything between 120 to 200 for this distance - depending on time-of-day, weather, bus-strike etc.
Thanks to all the folks including the Times of India for their sustained campaign for getting the auto-meters back in action in Chennai !!!
To my utter surprise, he says, "Saar, as per meter. Please get in" and turns on the meter. Once I am seated, he says, "The RTO guys / cops are nearby and you are asking me "How much?". If they had heard it, would be a big problem for me. As it is the cops are worried that they are not getting enough defaulters to penalise"
Along the way home, I keep checking the meter and it is working like clockwork - Rs25 for the first 1.8kms and then Rs12 for every subsequent km. I reach my place and the meter is showing a few bucks less than Rs.100 for the ~8km distance, which is exactly as per the new fare. Give him another 15 bucks just for the joy of seeing an untampered auto-meter in action in Chennai - I think the last time I saw a meter running in Chennai was sometime in the mid-90s. :-)
And to think that these guys used to charge anything between 120 to 200 for this distance - depending on time-of-day, weather, bus-strike etc.
Thanks to all the folks including the Times of India for their sustained campaign for getting the auto-meters back in action in Chennai !!!
