Three-wheelers hold commuters to ransom in Kolkata – Times of India

KOLKATA: Auto operators demanded higher fares from helpless commuters in the city as private buses largely stayed off the roads on Thursday.
Long queues of commuters were seen at most of the auto stands during morning peak hours as the government has eased several restrictions like extended hours for commercial establishments, reopening of malls and salons and increase in the number of employees in offices.
The government buses were packed in absence of private buses and this forced many commuters to scramble for autos to reach their destinations.
Taking the advantage of such high demand, the auto operators demanded exorbitant fares from the commuters. Some commuters alleged that with a few private buses plying, the auto operators chose the peak morning hours for maximum gains.
“I paid Rs 22 to come to MG Road from Phoolbagan. This is double the actual fare on normal days. The auto drivers were demanding random fares because there were too many people in the queue and lesser number of autos,” said Vineet Agarwal who was coming to his office on MG Road.
Similar scenes were seen in different other parts of the city, where there were long queues at auto stands since morning. The commuters said that there was no particular rule followed by the auto operators — some carried two passengers while others carried four passengers. At Garia, two most popular routes followed different policies. While the autos on the Garia-Tollygunge route via Ranikuthi plied with four passengers, those plying on the Garia-Golpark route via Jadavpur took two or three passengers. The fares too fluctuated. On the Airport-Ultadanga route, the commuters paid between Rs 30-40, depending on the time they were travelling. On the Garia-Tollygunge route, the commuters paid the old fare Rs 16 for one trip.
Such was the competition among passengers that the auto operators on two separate routes clashed at Airport Gate 1. The autos plying to Baguiati alleged that they were being denied opportunity to pick up passengers by those headed for Ultadanga. This led to a scuffle between the drivers of both the routes, after which the local union leaders had to intervene. At Behala Chowrasta, the commuters headed for Rashbehari were asked how many of them wanted to travel in an auto. “We gave them the option of choosing the number of passengers provided that the total fare for four passengers got shared,” said a leader.