Fleeced by a rickshaw driver

A few days ago I was getting back home in a rickshaw (I live in the suburbs in Bombay), well when I reached my building and was paying the driver, I realised I didn’t have enough change. The fare was Rs 35 and I gave him a Rs 50 note. He started with the usual please give Rs 5 change which I didn’t have. So I asked him to hang on for a bit and went to ask my building watchman. I had barely turned my back and he drove off. Well it was my mistake that I didn’t take the Rs 50 note back from him before taking off on the change hunting spree which was barely 10 feet away!

This is the second time this has happened to me. I obviously feel fleeced but at times wonder if it was my mistake as well. Maybe I should’ve known better and carried change with me or taken the money back before asking someone else for change. As it is there are exposes in newspapers which show that rickshaw drivers tamper with meters and I can vouch for a fact from personal experience that some drivers purposely slow down while approaching a signal so they can wait for a little longer to increase the tariff.

I guess there are a few pro-active citizens who note down the license number of the offender and complain to the RTO, but majority just let it go. I must add that I belong to the “I will crib about it and let go” section.

Thankfully the Mumbai rickshaws are better than those in Delhi where they often don’t follow a meter but the journey fare is decided/negotiated before the start of the journey. Then again, all public rickshaw/taxi drivers are not evil but one can’t help getting angry when they resort to such tactics…

Posted by Sentimental Fool