April 25, 2012

Mumbai autos: the tariff guide

On an unfortunate day like today when I had to travel home from office in an auto-rickshaw, I had a chance to look up the new tariff card, which has been made effective from 20th April, 2012. I verified the tariff card to be genuine, thanks to an article I read in the paper a few days back. The fares are costly now, no doubt, but the fares are easier to calculate now.

The fare card says that the minimum fare is Rs.12, and Rs. 7.5 for every km after. It basically translates that for very tick of the meter, the fare increases by Rs. 1.50. That in turn translates to a nice little formula you can use to calculate the fare of any auto-journey. Read on:
  1. There are 4 digits in the meter. Separate the first 2 digits and the last 2 digits, with a decimal point, e.g. 1020 means 10.20
  2. Multiply by 15 e.g. 10.20 x 15 = 153
  3. Subtract 3  e.g. 153 - 3 = 150
Simple! Now that there are cell phones with calculators, you can use this formula to make sure that the auto-guy is not cheating you with a fake tariff card. Hope this helps!

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