Fifty days since demonetisation, auto drivers in Hyderabad are yet to put their lives back together. The note ban to them was an act of adding salt to the injury caused by the unregulated operation of taxi aggregators, which has been eating into their profits.
“It has become unprofitable to drive an auto,” said Mohammad Fakruddin, an auto driver who lives in the Old City of Hyderabad. He has seen a substantial fall in passenger volume since the note ban.
Prior to demonetisation, Fakruddin used to earn between Rs 800 and Rs 1,000 a day. Now he earns Rs 500, of which Rs 200 goes towards rent for the auto. “We are facing stiff competition from Uber and Ola,” said another auto driver, Mohammad Chand.
“They have eaten into our market share. Now with this note ban, money from driving an auto has come down even further,” he said.
Taxi aggregators started operations in Hyderabad in 2015. The aggregators do not come under any regulations governed by Telangana State’s Regional Transport Authority. “Until demonetisation, even
though we faced competition from them and our earnings came down, we could still manage. But now it’s becoming impossible.
After I pay the auto rent and fill gas I don’t have much to take home. I borrowed money this month to pay my children’s school fees. I will have to figure a way out next month,” said Chand.
Earlier this year, Paytm, the online payment gateway, tried to enrol autorickshaws, but in vain. “I need money for petrol and for my daily expenses, so I need cash. I opened a Paytm account in August but no one was paying me through the application, so I deleted it,” said auto driver Manjunath P.
Auto drivers feel let down by the auto unions. Many did not take part in the Nov. 28 all-India protest against demonetisation called by the opposition parties. “What’s the point? People will just use Ola or Uber and it’s we who will end up losing money. So I did not take part in the strike.”
Many autorickshaw drivers try to earn an extra buck by illegally plying children to and from school. But many auto drivers say in December parents have either stopped the service or have not paid them their dues.
Sairam N of Basheerbagh said, “A few parents said they would pay us in January. This has never
happened before.”