Travelling in Auto rickshaws at Chennai had been a hassle due to fleecing auto drivers charging customers arbitrarily. The state government has yet to revise its auto fare fixed in 2006. Even as the price of fuel and living costs have sky-rocketed, the auto fares weren’t revised forcing the auto drivers to overcharge as much as possible.

The non-revised government fixed-fares come to Rs.14 for the first 2 km and Rs.7 for every additional km. (at the time of writing)

Interestingly, there are some recent developments that offer hope to Chennai commuters.

Namma Auto – Metered Autos

Namma Auto is an initiative which aims to provide hassle free ride to commuters. Namma Autos will be available for any destination irrespective of distance and have been fixed with electronic meters with a provision to issue printed bills.

Namma auto charges a fare of Rs.25 for first 2 km and Rs.10 for every additional km. Next time when you hit the road in Chennai, look out for Auto rickshaws with the “Namma Auto” board. “namma auto” does not offer any advance booking facility as of now.

Namma auto “printed receipts” – The Hindu

Founders S. Abdulla and Mansoor Ali Khan launched the company on May 19, 2013 with 17 autorickshaws and a staff of six. In 40 days, they had 60 autos and an office with 52 employees. They plan to expand the fleet to 300 autos by the end of July 2013.

Website: http://nammaauto.com/

Auto Raja – Metered Call Autos

Auto Raja is a metered auto with an advance booking facility. AutoRaja is the brainchild of Anubhav and Aishwarya – one, a student of Computer Science, the other, that of Sociology.

Auto Raja charges a fare of Rs.35 for first 2 km and Rs.12 for every additional km.

For commuters travelling less than 2km, which happens most of the time, the charge is a fixed Rs.30

To book an auto from Auto Raja, call 072 00 321294 (best to book 1 hour in advance)

Website: http://www.autoraja.org

Auto Raja’s story seems to be an inspiring one.

Bothered by the state of auto rickshaws in Chennai, founders Aishwarya and Anubhav decided to not stop at whining but to take matters into their own hands! “How about we get drivers to run on reasonable rates? Why don’t we provide professional training to auto-rickshaw drivers in the city? What if the customer could enjoy a technologically-enhanced, hassle-free auto-rickshaw ride anywhere and anytime? Could we create a network of all existing rickshaws in the city and help them find customers – that way the drivers and their families would benefit too? How about we offer health and other social benefits as well to the drivers?”, were questions that plagued the duo’s minds, and after half a year of surveys, interviews, brainstorming and presentations, Auto Raja was born.

Any there any other metered autos in Chennai we are missing out? Let us know in the comments.

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