What does it take for a government to hear the anguished cries of its people — tears, desperate pleas, protests, or, perhaps, a powerful leader raising the torch of their fight? Struggling under mounting debt and unkept promises, autorickshaw drivers in Telangana recently flooded the streets of Hyderabad to draw attention to their woes. Stepping into their cause, Bharat Rashtra Samithi legislator and former minister K.T. Rama Rao emphasised their plight by driving an electric autorickshaw, adorned with placards that read: ‘Auto Annalu Aatmahatyalu Government Hatyalu’ (auto driver suicides are government murders).
While all attempts to highlight the drivers’ sufferings have left the government unmoved, the weight of their pleas for survival collides with passengers’ cries for fare tranparency and service quality, laying bare a conflict of needs and neglect.
Autorickshaw union leaders maintain that the Mahalakshmi scheme, an election guarantee of the Congress government offering free travel for women in State-run buses, has eaten into their income. Several drivers, they claim, have taken their own lives under the crushing financial strain.
Yet, for well over a decade, successive governments have turned a blind eye to the long overdue increase in the minimum fare and fare per kilometre — both stagnant at ₹20 and ₹11, respectively. The constant rise in fuel prices has done little to prompt any meaningful change.
While passengers complain about drivers not adhering to the fare meter, drivers decry the soaring fuel costs.
“In 2014, a government order fixed the minimum fare and per kilometre fare. After that, we all know how much the prices of petrol, diesel, CNG, and LPG have shot up. But the fares were not increased by any government,” says A. Sathi Reddy, a functionary of the Telangana Auto Drivers Joint Action Committee. “How much will the driver earn, and how much will he have left after completing trips,” he asks.
At a recent protest, auto drivers’ unions reiterated their demand for a fare hike — a minimum fare of ₹40 and per kilometre fare of ₹25. They argue that this increase is not only fair but necessary for improving their livelihoods. In another protest, they urged the Congress government to honour its pre-poll promise of providing ₹12,000 annually to each driver.
The list of 13 demands also include payment of ₹10 lakh ex-gratia to families of auto drivers who ended lived on account of losses incurred due to the Mahalakshmi scheme; establishment of a welfare board for auto and transport workers; issuance of 20,000 new autorickshaw permits in GHMC limits; ban on bike taxis running “illegally” on ride-hailing apps; increase in auto meter charges/ fares/ rates; payment of third party insurance by the government; ₹10 lakh accident insurance cover; bringing natural death under insurance; old age pension for auto drivers; ban on LPG, CNG autos from other districts plying in GHMC limits; parking space for autos; and addressing private, illicit financier atrocities.
Rising costs and stagnant earnings
A few metres from the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad, beneath the Bahadurpura flyover in Tadbun, lies an auto stand that typically has about 20 rickshaws parked during the day. But around 10 p.m., with traffic thinning, only a handful of drivers remain. A group of six drivers stroll to a nearby Irani cafe. As the tea is poured into the cups, they discuss their hardships.
“We have to rent autos because they are not ours. The rent for each in the GHMC (Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation) limits is between ₹300 and ₹600 a day, depending on whether they run on CNG, LPG, or are electric. Older autos are cheaper to hire but they consume more fuel,” says Md. Amer Ali, 28, who has been driving an autorickshaw for seven years.
Drivers say they earn ₹1,200 to ₹2,000 on a daily average, but claim that the ‘good days’ are few and far between. The full recovery they had hoped for after the pandemic-induced lockdown remains elusive. Sharing his struggle, one driver, requesting anonymity, says: “My house rent is ₹7,000, and it keeps going up. None of us can afford to buy homes. The rent just keeps increasing. I have to feed, clothe, and educate three children. How can I manage all that on this meagre income, especially when the government refuses to listen to us?”
Vikram, 40, another driver, chips in, “If I fill ₹500 to ₹600 worth of fuel, and set aside money for maintenance and any fines, there is barely anything left for myself and my two children.”
The issue of aggregators has also become a cause of concern for auto drivers. Much like union leaders, they emphasise the need for greater transparency in deductions and charges. They also point at how many older drivers continue to face difficulties with operating ride-hailing apps. “At our own auto stand, we have seen drivers aged over 60 years, and even those nearing 70, accepting rides far from their location, only to end up losing money,” explains Syed Nabi, 31, an auto driver studying law.
In his personal capacity, Nabi has filed Right to Information requests and submitted representations to the Transport and Information Technology departments, seeking answers and urging government intervention.
The auto unions have held talks with government officials as well as Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, but they maintain that no tangible action has been taken towards fulfilling their demands.
Restrictions and limited opportunities
Over the past decade, the number of vehicles in Telangana has risen by nearly 138%, reaching a total of 1,69,50,514. Of these, autorickshaws account for 5,03,262, making up just 2.96% of the total vehicles.
According to statistics available with the Transport department, there were 92,471 auto rickshaws within the GHMC limits as of 2024. Notably, the number of autorickshaw permits was capped in February 2002, due to increasing vehicular congestion and rising pollution from two-stroke engines.
However, unions have repeatedly called for an increase in permit ceiling, arguing that current stipulations do not favour drivers. They contend that these rules not only make it difficult for drivers to buy a new autorickshaw but also inadvertendly promote an unregulated market dominated by unauthorised financiers.
“To buy a new auto, the driver must first scrap the old one at an authorised facility. After verification, a new permit is issued, allowing for the purchase of a new auto,” explains a Transport Department official.
He acknowledges that while the application fee for a new permit is ₹500 and user charges are ₹100, older rickshaws, which need to be scrapped, are often sold at inflated prices.
“A new auto may cost ₹2.80 lakh, but we have to pay approximately another ₹2.60 lakh for an old auto. We then have to scrap this old auto and show officers the necessary documents to be able to buy a new one. This means that the cost of the auto, in actuality, is nearly ₹5.5 lakh. This process takes a lot of time and must be simplified,” says Amer Ali.
The cap on the number of autorickshaws plying in the GHMC limits has restricted livelihood opportunities for drivers and, due to weak enforcement, has led to an influx of autos from nearby districts. To make ends meet, many drivers are forced to turn to unauthorised financiers who charge exorbitant interest rates, while others are left with no choice but to rent autos.
Shaik Salauddin, president of the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union, who has been actively campaigning for greater transparency on the part of ride-hailing apps, says that the role of these apps and their algorithms was a key topic at a recent meeting pf unions with the Department of Labour. “We have been urging the government to fix fares for both cabs and autos. These fares should be strictly enforced, and aggregators must abide by them. We have also been seeking proper implementation of the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines of 2020,” he adds.
Fare conflict
While unions and drivers continue protesting in support of their demands, passengers recount harrowing experiences with autorickshaw drivers regarding fares.
Sharing her frustrations with the daily commute, Swarna Gowri, a private bank employee, says she books an auto on a ride-hailing app around 8.45 a.m. to make sure she reaches office on time. But more often than not, she is left inconvenienced. “At least once or twice every week, the assigned driver asks me about my drop-off point, the fare shown on the app, and then demands extra money. After a few minutes, they cancel the ride altogether! I am then forced to rush to the nearest metro rail station just to reach office on time. I wouldn’t mind paying more if they didn’t insist on it, but why must they demand extra money,” she asks, her voice filled with exasperation.
Syed Sadat, 42, an educator, rues about auto fare discrepancies. “I commute to office near the Integrated Command and Control Centre from my house near a shopping mall in Banjara Hills, a distance of nearly 5 km. Once the app showed a fare of ₹120, but the driver insisted that it was showing ₹170 on his phone. He said the fare on my app was outdated and that it wasn’t his fault. I later realised he had shown me a screenshot of another person’s ride. This has happened thrice with me, in less than a year,” shares Sadat.
Aarti Rawat, 25, a media professional, says drivers demanding higher fares has become commonplace. “Usually, a ride from Clocktower in Secunderabad to Ramanthpur typically costs ₹160 to ₹170. But twice or thrice a week, drivers ask for ₹200 or more. What really frustrates me is that they get upset when I choose to pay via the app, instead of making a UPI payment.”
Other passengers share similar experiences, where after booking a ride, drivers called to insist on canceling the ride and engaging them directly — off the app.
“This has happened quite a few times. For example, if the app shows a fare of ₹150, drivers ask me to cancel and pay the same fare, or a slightly higher amount, directly to them. Whenever I have tried to negotiate, they quote ₹50 or ₹70 more than the app’s estimated fare. Some thing has to be done about this constant haggling,” says another passenger, Parveen Saleem, 48, who works in the education sector.
Auto drivers argue that they are compelled to demand extra fares because taxi aggregator apps impose deductions, taxes, and promotional offers that reduce their earnings.
A senior transport department official, on the condition of anonymity, says that no decision has been made to increase the minimum fare or the per-kilometre fare. However, joint meetings involving the Labour department, Transport department, and unions have taken place. “Concerns about aggregator algorithms were raised during those discussions and would require further study,” he explains.
Published – January 03, 2025 08:30 am IST
