HYDERABAD: For share auto-rickshaw drivers plying along the metro corridor, the opening of Hyderabad Metro Rail has brought a mixed bag. The seven-seater TATA magic autos that ply longer routes are at a loss as commuters choose metro for longer commutes. However, the three-seater share autos that were banned by the Road Transport Authority (RTA), which operate along the Metro corridor on shorter routes, are doing much better.
At the sight of Motor Vehicle Inspectors (MVIs), the banned-three-seater-auto stand under Kukatpally metro rail station vanishes. They reappear again, parked in a neat row under the station, once the MVIs leave.
Plying of share autos in Hyderabad city was banned in 2016, that pushed them to city outer limits where they can ply without much interference from the law. But since the Metro opening, these share autos have come back within city limits.
“The Metro brought in more people who want to do shorter commutes as we are cheaper than the metro by Rs 3 to Rs 2,” said K Srinivas, who has been driving auto for 25 years. “To go to Shiva Parvathi theatre from Balaji Nagar, the Metro would cost a person Rs 10, and they still will have to walk a kilometre from Moosapet station to the theatre doorstep.
A share auto can drop the person at the doorstep for Rs 8,” he said. Passenger behaviour has changed, observed D Yadagiri, another share auto driver, “We mostly pick and drop passengers from the bus stations but now we mostly pick people up and drop them at Metro stations. Senior citizens too prefer share autos as in a Metro they will have to walk, climb stairs, wait in queues, and it takes them more time.
We drop them at their doorstep,” he added. If share autos servicing short routes has witnessed increased footfall and better revenue, the seven-seater ‘TATA magic autos’ appears to have lost out on revenue. “My earnings have dropped from Rs 700 to Rs 500 since the metro opening,” said Shiek Shareef Ahmad a share auto driver for a seven-seater. These autos start service from ESI hospital metro station levying anywhere between Rs 10 to Rs 50 for a commute till Lingampally.