Hard-pressed, app-based auto drivers strike deal with others

However, the drivers maintain that they are forced to resort to such measures due to a host of reasons, including pressure from the firms to complete a specific number of trips every day and worsening traffic situation.

The only thing that differentiates the autorickshaws part of the aggregator firms is the GPS-enabled android mobile phones. In recent times, those part of the arrangement with the aggregators have begun networking with the rest to make them take up a few of the rides to meet their daily targets.

According to a passenger who is a regular on app-based autorickshaws, they raise the matter with the drivers that there is a mismatch between the registration number of the vehicle that is shown in the app and the one that comes to pick them up. “They always come up with the excuses like the autos have been sent to RTOs for fitness test or other such reasons,” said the commuter, noting that the safety of passengers, especially women, has been compromised in this manner.

Admitting that such informal arrangements are being done, an autorickshaw driver said on condition of anonymity that they network with other drivers to complete the number of trips they have to complete a day as per the fixed target. The aggregators demand that the drivers should complete at least 15 rides a day to be eligible for incentives.

“The higher number of rides help us to earn a little more. On a average, it takes us more than an hour to complete a ride. The situation on the road is so bad that we are exhausted after negotiating through heavy traffic, making it tough to complete more than 10 rides a day,” the driver said.

However, an official from one of the aggregator firms said they have not received any complaints from the public over this. “Before hiring, we do conduct profiling and background checks to authenticate their record,” he said, adding that they would explore options to place foolproof measures to avoid such instances.