Terminal Torture
FOUR AM reporters stood outside the airport on Tuesday and Wednesday trying to find an auto driver at the airport who would charge them according to the meter. They came away suffering from...
Posted On Thursday, October 16, 2008 (Ahmedabad Mirror Cover Story)
PASSENGER Shraddha DESTINATION Ashram Road FARE CHARGED Rs 100 ACTUAL FARE Rs 70Landing at Ahmedabad airport? No vehicle to take you to your destination? You are doomed.For years now, those flying into the city — and those who
have come to see off a relative or a friend — are at the complete mercy of unscrupulous autorickshaw drivers outside the Ahmedabad airport in case they don’t have conveyance of their own. And the authorities are simply indifferent towards the citizens’ plight.Ahmedabad Mirror decided to highlight the sheer torture one goes through at the airport if he/she has to depend solely on autos to get to the destination.
PASSENGER Yogesh DESTINATION Cama Hotel FARE CHARGED Rs 110 ACTUAL FARE Rs 90On Tuesday and Wednesday, four Mirror reporters — Shraddha Singh, Yogesh Avasthi, Jignesh Barot and Ruturaj Jadav — posed as passengers at the city airport and tried to find an autorickshaw whose driver was willing to charge them by the meter.After hours of baking under the hot sun and haggling with the auto drivers, they stood a better chance of discovering a huge lake in the middle of the desert of Kutch!There is a pre-paid taxi service available at the airport, but it is worse than the autos.
Posted On Thursday, October 16, 2008 (Ahmedabad Mirror Cover Story)
PASSENGER Shraddha DESTINATION Ashram Road FARE CHARGED Rs 100 ACTUAL FARE Rs 70Landing at Ahmedabad airport? No vehicle to take you to your destination? You are doomed.For years now, those flying into the city — and those who
have come to see off a relative or a friend — are at the complete mercy of unscrupulous autorickshaw drivers outside the Ahmedabad airport in case they don’t have conveyance of their own. And the authorities are simply indifferent towards the citizens’ plight.Ahmedabad Mirror decided to highlight the sheer torture one goes through at the airport if he/she has to depend solely on autos to get to the destination.PASSENGER Yogesh DESTINATION Cama Hotel FARE CHARGED Rs 110 ACTUAL FARE Rs 90On Tuesday and Wednesday, four Mirror reporters — Shraddha Singh, Yogesh Avasthi, Jignesh Barot and Ruturaj Jadav — posed as passengers at the city airport and tried to find an autorickshaw whose driver was willing to charge them by the meter.After hours of baking under the hot sun and haggling with the auto drivers, they stood a better chance of discovering a huge lake in the middle of the desert of Kutch!There is a pre-paid taxi service available at the airport, but it is worse than the autos.
The taxis will charge you Rs 250 from the airport to Ashram Road, whereas the fare will be just Rs 70 by the auto meter. If you reside in Satellite area, the taxi service will cost you Rs 280, while the auto meter would read Rs 100.
PASSENGER Jignesh DESTINATION Satellite FARE CHARGED Rs 130 ACTUAL FARE Rs 105And don’t even think about boarding an autorickshaw outside the airport parking premises, as the auto drivers at the airport don’t allow ‘outsiders’ to pick up passengers from their den. You will have to walk for more than 5 km to a nearby hotel to find an auto.
PASSENGER Jignesh DESTINATION Satellite FARE CHARGED Rs 130 ACTUAL FARE Rs 105And don’t even think about boarding an autorickshaw outside the airport parking premises, as the auto drivers at the airport don’t allow ‘outsiders’ to pick up passengers from their den. You will have to walk for more than 5 km to a nearby hotel to find an auto.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, when our reporters tried to board an auto from the road connecting the airport to the city, the auto drivers standing at the airport parking jeered at them. “No other auto will turn up here. You will have to walk to a nearby hotel to get an auto,” one of them said.
PASSENGER Ruturaj DESTINATION Maninagar FARE CHARGED Rs 170 ACTUAL FARE Rs 140As part of the Mirror test drive, our reporters were required to haggle with the auto drivers under blazing sun. But will a harried passenger have the time, and the energy, to do the same? Obviously not.He/she will have no option but to agree to the unreasonable demands of the auto drivers. The fact that there is nobody to prevent this blatant cheating of passengers has made the autorickshaw drivers at the airport believe they can get away with anything.
PASSENGER Ruturaj DESTINATION Maninagar FARE CHARGED Rs 170 ACTUAL FARE Rs 140As part of the Mirror test drive, our reporters were required to haggle with the auto drivers under blazing sun. But will a harried passenger have the time, and the energy, to do the same? Obviously not.He/she will have no option but to agree to the unreasonable demands of the auto drivers. The fact that there is nobody to prevent this blatant cheating of passengers has made the autorickshaw drivers at the airport believe they can get away with anything.
It’s time the authorities spare a thought for the aam aadmi. SHRADDHA SINGH As I stepped out of the arrival lounge of the domestic terminal, the auto drivers swamped me. “Madam, idhar chaliya... Auto, madam? yahan par aaiye madam.” They surrounded me, and one chappie actually tried to grab my handbag!Their jaws dropped when I told them I am an Amdavadi and would pay according to the meter.
“Where do you want to go?” one of them asked me. “Ashram Road.”“How much will you pay?” he asked. “Rs 70.” Suddenly, the fight to ‘possess’ me was over. They looked at each other, and started hunting for other passengers.I persisted. “Ashram Road... who will come,” I said in a slightly raised tone. Said one of them, “Nobody will come for Rs 70. The minimum fare to Ashram Road is Rs 180.”Not the one to give up easily, I said, “On my journey from Ashram Road to the airport, I paid Rs 70 to the auto driver. How come the reverse journey is so costly?”“Parking charges, madam,” said one of the drivers, “We have to wait for a long time for the customers here.” I insisted I would not pay a rupee more than the actual fare and started walking towards the main road.Finally, out of nowhere, one of them agreed to charge me according to the meter. Success at last? Wait till you get to the end of the story!As I asked him to halt a few paces away from the Ahmedabad Mirror office on Ashram Road, I was in for a shock. The meter read 898 points, and the man’s rate card stopped at 518 points.He demanded Rs 150, and my stunned face said it all. “But you had promised you will charge me according to the meter.” The same jargon started again — parking charges, we have to wait for customers, this is the minimum rate — all this on a busy road.Fed up, I gave him Rs 100 and walked away.
