Each auto earns Rs 48,000 a month: Then why hold the city to ransom?

According to the latest economic survey the average income of an Indian is about Rs 6300 a month There is good reason for sharing this piece of information as after the revised hike in the minimum fare to Rs 12 the monthly payoff by running an auto rickshaw would be hold your breath about Rs 48000 Incidentally money or the lack of it was one of the prime reasons behind the oneday strike declared by auto unions on April 16 Flagging one down wasnrsquot easy Commuters could be seen scrambling for autos yesterday due to the strike called by the Sharad Raoled union PicSayed Sameer Abedi Auto rickshaw unions have been crying themselves hoarse demanding a revision in fares based on the cost of CNG that is used as fuel and after considering the current cost of living and other factors before deriving the new fares But finally on April 13 the state government hiked the minimum fare from Rs 11 to Rs 12 which will come into effect from April 20 Do the math The Re 1hike might sound meagre but as per calculations stated by auto unions in Mumbai the average income from an auto will be Rs 1600 per day Each auto runs in two shifts So every driver will make around Rs 750800 every dayu00a0However it is the auto permit holders some of whom own several threewheelers who take away the lionrsquos share leaving a driver about Rs 8000 to Rs 10000 a monthu00a0Sharad Rao the union leader at whose behest the strike was called said that on an average a driver flags off turns the flap of the mechanical meter at least 50 times a day ldquoThe interim relief Re 1 hike will allow an auto to earn at least Rs 1500 in a dayrdquo Rao told MiD DAY Never enough Members of auto unions claim that in 1998 cost of the rickshaw was around Rs 42000 However the figure has escalated to Rs 16 lakh Apart from this even the prices of spare parts and other ancillaries have increased over a period of time Claiming these as the base the unions had brazenly demanded a hike of Rs 5 which would have taken the basic fare to Rs 16 That though wasnrsquot accepted ldquoThe unions failed to give any logical explanation for justifying the Rs 16 figure After factoring all costs we arrived at Rs 1144 as revised fare But as people would face problems in returning 50 paise we rounded it to Rs 12rdquo said SK Sharma principal secretary transport Full stop On Monday nearly 98 per cent of the 104 lakh auto rickshaws in Mumbai were off the roads The few drivers who were plying demanded fares as per their whims and fancies cherrypicking passengers Many of them forced commuters to share a ride and still overcharged them Many autos were parked on roadsides and footpaths illegally These were also seen outside petrol pumps thus inconveniencing motorists ldquoNearly 15000 rickshaws were on the roadsrdquo claimed Mumbai Rickshawmenrsquos Union President Thampy Kurien The MNSled auto union claimed that it had opposed this strike and had run autos as far as possible The Mumbai Grahak Panchayat on Monday also approached the courts with a public interest litigation demanding Rs 125 crore as compensation for the trouble caused to Mumbaikars due to the strike Meanwhile the Andheri RTO issued show cause notice to 198 auto rickshaws that were either parked by the roadside or to those drivers who went to meet the officials from state transport department ldquoThe drivers will either face 45 days suspension or will have to pay a fine of Rs 3000 eachrdquo said an RTO official from Andheri On the other hand officials from Wadala RTO didnrsquot take any such step as they felt that the problem was only for a single day ldquoIf the strike would have been for more than one day we would have surely issued them a show cause notice However if directed by the government we will definitely take action against the autosrdquo said a Wadala RTO official Voices I donrsquot see why the common man must suffer due to the greed of these selfish union leaders Why is it that every single time it is the common man who is affected They39re earning enough Why do they continue to harass us with these pointless and hardhitting strikes mdash Kurve M Singh 22 Student I believe that each person must get a fair remuneration for doing his or her job While I see no reason for any man not to fight for his fair share the lsquojust doing their jobrsquo part that drivers repeat constantly is what gets to me I see them openly refuse rides to senior citizens pick and choose their customers and force me to alight a mile before my destination to save them the trouble of a Uturn mdash Munaf Bableshwar 23 Student The drivers earn more than Rs 175 daily which means they donrsquot come under the daily wages worker set in the Labour Act They earn more than jewellers How can their demand for hike be justified mdash I G Khandelwal Law activist The hike is absolutely unjustified Going on a strike is now more of a business for the unscrupulous drivers now mdash Anik Gadia 25 Businessman In Navi Mumbai auto drivers ferry more than 17 to 18 passengers a day Moreover they donrsquot charge as per the meter which is unfair and illegal They should not ask for a fare hike mdash Shafaque Akhter 18 Student mdash Inputs by Mustafa Shaikh and Aditya Hariharan