For those in Chennai who have been used to boarding a taxi or an autorickshaw at their doorstep or wherever they are, it has been a complete disappointment over the past few days.

While mobile apps did not either work or users were just unable to locate a taxi near their homes, most of them chose autorickshaws. Others reached their destinations using various modes of public transport — suburban and MRTS trains and hopping onto Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) buses.

“I had to reach Anna Salai from Anna Nagar. To my dismay there were no cabs on the app. Finally, I took an autorickshaw,” says G. Prasanna, a resident of Anna Nagar.

Like him, many others working on a Sunday were also in for a rude shock as they were not able to get a cab. “Luckily, I saw that MTC buses were plying despite the downpour. I got into bus route 21 and reached my office from Mylapore,” says K. Swaminathan of Balakrishna Street, Mylapore. Cab operators said that many of their drivers did not work due to rain. “Most of them have attached their cars with call taxi companies. They did not want their cars to get affected, hence none of them worked,” said a cab driver. Autorickshaw drivers, on the other hand, fleeced passengers. “One of them demanded Rs. 150 for a distance of two kilometres. He said he would have to spend more if his vehicle got spoilt,” said M. Raghav of Vadapalani.

Meanwhile, MTC operated 95 per cent of its fleet strength. “There were not many passengers, but we operated the buses to serve people. We told drivers not to enter subways as the vehicles may get spoilt,” said a MTC official.