Three-wheelers are probably the oldest means of public transport service in India which continues to be used with the same popularity as it was decades ago. From horse driven carriages to A.C Buses to local trains to Metro, Indian cities have witnessed a constant change in public transportation system but one that has remained unchanged and was never challenged by any change are three-wheelers.
The only thing that makes three-wheelers so popular among Indians is that they offer a cheap escape from having to travel in a packed city Bus. Getting a three-wheeler means that you can save time and travel hassle free at almost one-fourth of the fare of a cab. But as it is said, nothing in this world comes for free and the real price tag on these three-wheelers is the nuisance they create on the roads that we continue to ignore and live with.
In most of the western countries, one rule is simple. If you board a cab, the driver cannot say no to you and will have to take you to your desired destination. If the driver refuses, he can even lose his license if you filed a complaint. Sadly no such rule applies in our country. These three-wheelers provide their service per their will and at a price they think sufficient. You can stand on the side of a road for almost an hour and none of the driver will agree to transport you if they think the destination is not worth of their time and money. You have no way of forcing them either. They will just nod their head in no and drive away. If you get too persistent, the answer is a simple one liner, “It is my three-wheeler, not yours. I will go where I want to go. Find another one”.
The transport authorities have a fare list for three-wheelers and they all have a meter installed. However finding one that will charge you per the meter is a task in itself. Most of them will quote price that they think is reasonable and will refuse to charge as per the meter. If you even mention the word “meter”, they will either just drive away or will tell you that the meter just covers the fuel charge and leaves them with almost nothing. Ironically, the initial amount they always quote is enough to drop you jaw wide-open. When I spoke to a three-wheeler driver about this, he laughed and told me that it is a chance they take. If the customer is not aware of the actual distance or is in a hurry, he might just agree to the quoted price. Second reason he gave me is that people always negotiate so they quote a huge amount initially so that even after negotiation, the other person ends up over-paying. When I asked him that why don’t they ask for a reasonable charge so that there is no room for negotiation, his answer was that reasonable enough price is not enough.
Another trick that these drivers play is that they either never carry change or even if they do, they never take it out. So if you handed a Rs. 100 note to the driver for Rs. 90 charge, he will just look at you with a straight face saying he doesn’t have Rs. 10 in change. The only option for you is to either manage Rs. 90 in change or forget about the Rs. 10 note that he is supposed to return.
However the actual nuisance they create is out on the roads. Even in a fast moving traffic, these three-wheelers literally crawl and can barely manage a speed of 20-30 kilometers per hour. What’s worse is that they do not even bother to move to the side of the road. They will drive right in the middle and every car would have to change lanes to overtake them. There is a constant risk of a speeding car or any other vehicle either hitting the three-wheeler or hit someone else while trying to overtake one. Most of these drivers are villagers with no sense of the traffic and no respect for the rules. They driving as if they are still driving on a village road and will park anywhere they want especially in front of large multinational offices or metro stations. They will line up right on the side of the road and will not move even after there is a traffic jam because of them. They will drive anywhere and anyhow they want. If they get hit by a car, it doesn’t matter whose mistake it actually was. In the end, the car driver will be at fault and the three-wheeler driver would become the poor victim. Then there is also the gang behavior among these drivers. If one auto driver gets in trouble or altercation with someone, pretty soon there will be at least half a dozen drivers supporting him and even threatening the other person. There have been incidents where these drivers have even assaulted people who either refused to over-pay or got into an altercation with them.
I remember when I once asked a driver about how they overcharge people, He said to me that this is a tough world and they also have families to support. My thought to that answer was that do we not all have that? If he cannot afford to lose even Rs. 10, then how can they expect others to do that? It’s not like other people have a plant that grows money. Years ago when Sheila Dixit, the then chief minister, suggested taking three-wheelers out of service, everyone opposed the thought and it never got done. But how long do we want to stick to a system that is decades old and causes more trouble for us than convenience? Is it not time for us to move to something better? Is it not what we all do in all our lives, try to get something better than what we currently have? We all think of our country as developed and feel offended if someone calls our cities any less than any other city in a developed country. But the question here is which developed city in the other actually has three wheelers?
