Commuters who wish to complain against rogue auto drivers can do so through a number of methods

SMS: Send an SMS to 52225 in the following formats

Driver hands ten 500-rupee notes, and then demands his money back even if they have already returned itCommuters, beware: the fad of auto drivers cheating innocent passengers has reached an all-new low with this trick that’s being played of late. At least four people have fallen prey to this ruse in different incidents across the city over the last fortnight.The modus operandi employed is this: as soon as a passenger gets into the vehicle, they are handed ten `100 notes and asked to count them.The driver then asks the victim for two `500 notes as change instead; and if the victim says yes, an exchange is made. If the victim says no, the driver asks for the money back. All this while, the auto would have begun moving, and the driver will either suddenly ask for an absurd amount as fare, or begin speeding and taking wrong routes intentionally, to get the passenger to ask him to stop.The moment this happens, the driver aggressively demands his `1,000 that he claims was not given back by the passenger, and threatens physical harm if not paid. Of the four incidents Bangalore Mirror learned of, three victims resorted to paying the driver an extra `1,000 and hurriedly leaving the vehicle, fearing for their lives. All victims were women.One of them is Priya S, a marketing firm employee. Priya and her cousin hailed an auto rickshaw near Phoneix Mall, Mahadevapura, towards HAL around 3pm last Wednesday.“We had shopping bags with us, and the moment we got in, the driver turned around and handed us ten `100 notes. He quickly asked us to count the money and asked if we had two `500 notes. He kept eyeing our shopping bags, and when we said we didn’t have change and gave him back the money, he suddenly took off. Just a few hundred metres into the ride, he asked us to pay `350 to reach our destination, and we refused. We told him to stop, but before we could get off, he began screaming that we owed him `1,000. We were so confused, and told him we had returned his money, but he refused,” Priya told Mirror.The driver reportedly began abusing the girls and screaming that he would hurt them, so they quickly gave him `1,000 and got out of the auto. They were too traumatised to note down his registration number, by which time he had escaped.A similar incident reportedly occurred with Santhi R, a techie employed with a biotechnology firm. In a complaint to the city traffic police, Santhi detailed how she and a friend hired an auto near Forum Mall, Koramangala on November 28, and the same scam unfolded.“We told him twice that we didn’t have two `500 notes, and he suddenly demanded `250 to reach our destination which was barely 4.2 kilometres away. We told him to stop the auto, returned his `1,000, and got out before anything worse happened. Two of my colleagues had the same experience, one of whom was alone and scared that the driver would hurt her, so she paid him `1,000 and ran away. The other colleague actually had two `500 notes and gave him the change, but he swapped one of them with a `100 note and claimed she owed him `400 more. When she protested, he raised his voice until she paid him,” Santhi said.Traffic police officials, meanwhile, implore passengers to note down the registration number of the auto rickshaw or cab as soon as they get inside, regardless of whether or not something like this happens. It is difficult to rely on traffic cameras or CCTVs installed on buildings to have captured the incident, they claim.“We have helplines, an SMS service, and even a mobile application dedicated to helping the public complain against errant auto drivers. If all else fails, they can at least note down the license plate number or take a photograph and send it to us to initiate action. In such situations, the passengers need to be very careful and avoid travelling to their destination if the driver tries to pull such tricks,” said a senior traffic police official.* 24-hour IVRS-enabled helplines: 080-22868444/22868550 * e-mail: tmcbtp@gmail.com* In case of refusing hire, type ‘AUTO REF (registration number) (location, from and to) (date and time)’. For example: AUTO REF KA01A1000 Navrang to Malleswaram 3:30 pm, 1 July, 2015 * In case of overcharging, type ‘AUTO OVC (registration number) (location, from and to) (date and time)’. For example: AUTO OVC KA01A1000 Navrang to Malleswaram 3:30 pm, 1 July, 2015