Inflation Impact: Commuting charges pinch the common man

A middle-class commuter travelling 5 km to work is spending more now

“Oru 20 rupees mela pottu kudunga, petrol/diesel rate yellam eriduchu [pay ₹20 above the meter charge, as petrol and diesel rates have shot up]”. This is a refrain that every commuter hears before boarding an autorickshaw or a cab in Chennai.

A middle-class commuter taking these modes of transport to travel 5 km to work was earlier spending ₹7,000 a month. Now, he is spending an additional ₹2,500. Commuters from across Chennai whom The Hindu spoke to said they have been spending an average of ₹2,500 to ₹6,000 more (depending on the distance) in the last four months for inter-city commutes.

Parents who send their children to school by autorickshaws said the drivers had informed them of an increase of ₹1,500 a month for a child (based on the location).

Even as the Tamil Nadu government has begun revising autorickshaw fares through the State Transport Authority, commuters are forced to pay a hefty sum as autorickshaw drivers are demanding 30%-40% more than what they charged before the COVID-19 lockdown. Commuters said taking cabs in Chennai is more expensive than travelling to a neighbouring district. Taxi aggregators, including Ola and Uber, have also put up the fares, citing the increase in fuel prices.

S. Kamala, who has a house on Mudichur Road, Tambaram, said that last week she booked a cab from Duraiswamy Subway, T. Nagar, after shopping. She ended up paying ₹800 for an auto. “For a mini-cab, the cost was ₹980 and the charge for Prime Play was ₹1,200. A third AC train ticket from Chennai to Coimbatore would cost less,” she said.

Consumer activist T. Sadagopan said drivers now insisted on passengers paying only in cash.