For an NRC (Non-Residential Chennaite) or an ARC (All-Rounder Chennaite), there is one thing that has been a nightmare from time immemorial - auto rickshaws. Chennai has welcomed hundreds of NRCs over the past few years and auto drivers have given these NRCs their own kind of welcome: "meter + one and a half". These poor NRCs minus the lack of Chennai knowledge and negotiating power end up being prey to the heinous amount that these auto drivers command.
I would be lying if I don't state that there have been improvements in favor of us NRCs (Yes, I have been a proud NRC for close to a year now). For example: there is Auto Annadurai (http://www.theweekendleader.com/Heroism/1531/anna%E2%80%99s-auto.html) who ploughs down the OMR (Old Mahabalipuram Road) stretch celebrating birthdays of CEOs of major IT companies by giving its employees discounts. And, wait for it, has free wi-fi and popular B-mags in his vehicle. Needless to say, he had a few million hits on YouTube, was featured in newspapers, people in the other metros grew jealous of Chennaites and NRCs blessed his family and him a long and happy life.
Meanwhile, share-autos (another boon that Chennai was given) became the favorites of the young and the old who weren't privy to the luxury of the lone OMR auto “anna”. For a meager amount, these share-auto drivers will "deliver" (yes, that's the word I planned on using) passengers down a short fixed stretch. I used deliver because these share-autos are like normal autos with the ability and space to carry 3, maybe 4 passengers but by some magic (nothing scientific, whatsoever) these share-autos carry TEN people (including the driver, of course). I would not be surprised if I see a couple of passengers riding on top the vehicle. As such cases with convenience go; Chennaites started preferring these share autos and buses to cater to their transportation needs. When the normal auto drivers felt lonely and deserted, they raised a hue and cry about how these share-autos were disrupting their business and warned the city officials of an impending strike if they dint curb the unruly behaviour of these share-autos. The city officials saw how silly these normal auto drivers were and ignored them.
Then came a revolution!!! A much needed one at that. "The Ola Auto". Ola (formerly "Ola Cabs") is a mobile-app taxi service provider. They have been on the forefront for a couple of years now competing against Meru Cabs, Taxi For Sure (which they have now acquired) and the like. Bhavish Agarwal (CEO & Founder of Ola) is now being included in the list of Gods thanked and worshipped for answering the prayers of hundreds of Chennaites like me. The b-plan for Ola Autos is brilliant and simple. These autos are normal autos carrying 3 passengers (extra charged for an extra passenger) but they charge according to the digital meter (something that Chennaites never thought they would see make a come-back) starting with a minimum fare of INR 25. These can be booked only via the app at the time you want to travel. A convenience fee of INR 10 is charged. Oh, fun fact: these autos are equipped with a GPS. How does Ola pay these auto-drivers? The drivers get to keep the fare amount and are paid INR 1500 per week. "How in the world does Ola make profits?" they ask and I am sure a lot of us have. But it's definitely a win-win-win for all of us!
What with the umpteen complaints against transportation services coming up these days, Ola has made sure that the autos are audited for maintenance, the drivers are trained, and the app even has the facility to share the details of the ride (driver name, contact number, vehicle number, etc) with your friends and family. From my experience and a lot of my friends', Ola auto has been like a big brownie-point to us value+convenience seekers. There has risen a new generation of auto drivers that we never knew existed and we have our fingers crossed that this generation of lenient, obedient, fair and traffic-abiding auto drivers is here to stay.
Download that app and get booking. Cheers!
P.S: For public knowledge, Ola autos (beta version) are available in Bangalore, Chennai and Pune. Ola also runs the "kaali peeli" service in Mumbai where it has roped in the "black-yellow" taxis.
P.P.S: This is a general post from my dormant-hoping-to-become-active blogging self.
