Rickshaws in Nagpur don’t have meters. You negotiate with the driver for your location and then you can make the ride. Last week I spent some time in Nagpur. For two days I paid Rs.60 every morning to reach my destination from the hotel. On the third day I checked out and with my luggage approached the first rickshaw outside the hotel. He said 80 bucks! take it or leave it. (I thought he was over-charging because the previous two days I had taken the rick a little away from the hotel entrance). I told him 60 was fair but then we agreed on 70 and got moving.
I reach my destination and handed him Rs.70 as promised. A gentleman indeed, he actually returned Rs.10 back and said, “I quoted Rs.70 because I thought you wanted to go ahead of the big junction, so here is Rs.10 back.” Got me thinking. I was a tourist and the driver could have easily avoided the 10 bucks refund and kept that little extra for himself.
Gives you an assurance that a few good honest men yet survive around here and it’s a matter of chance that you get to meet one. Have you met one lately? Share your story with me in the comments area.
1 response so far ↓
1 Rajat Arora // Aug 3, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Sounds familiar to me.
Delhi’s autorickshaws, or rather autorickshaw drivers, are a notorious lot. They have meters, yet don’t go by it. They overcharge, and you have to bargain with them very frequently. Yet, to my amazement I still manage to find some honest ones who abide by the meter. I even wrote a post about it - http://lin.cr/0yk
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