PUNE: Businessman Saurabh Prakash, who came to Pune from Delhi early in June, found himself staring at his phone for 40 minutes outside Pune airport, while cabbies continued to cancel his ride one after another. Nearly an hour later, he had no option but to take an autorickshaw to Shivajinagar for Rs800. "Six cabbies cancelled my ride after accepting it. I had landed in Pune in the wee hours and found no one who could help me. There were a few autorickshaws outside and the one I took quoted a little lower fare than the rest," Prakash said.
Another female flyer, who chose to stay unnamed, told TOI she paid Rs700 from airport till Model Colony earlier this month. Little did she know that midway, the auto driver would ask her to get into another autorickshaw as he had somewhere else to go.
Leaving the airport via any mode of public transport continues to be a hassle and risk for flyers. The situation has seen no improvement, said flyers, and the problem is particularly prevalent in the late evening and early morning hours. Ravindra Sarat, who arrived from Delhi last week, said, "I got out only by 2am. I could reach my friend's place in Kondhwa by 4.30am. Six cabbies cancelled my ride and the one who didn't asked me for Rs300 extra, claiming he wouldn't get any passengers on the way back," said Sarat, a working professional, who finally paid Rs600.
Another passenger, who recently came back from Indore, said the pre-paid taxi charged him Rs700 to Kothrud. "I didn't know about the counter of cab aggregators and took a pre-paid cab that cost an astronomical amount," he said.
Between 12am and 3am, there are around 13 arrivals and 14 departures lined up at the airport. Also, between 3am to 6am, there are close to nine arrivals and the same number of departures. A cabbie said, "Most flights after midnight till 3am land at intervals of 5-15 minutes. This results in a huge rush of flyers. Travelling to the airport is often tough due to the traffic along New Airport Road. Cabbies do cancel rides thinking passengers will not wait, but many flyers cancel rides, too."
Another cabbie cited high fuel prices. "If we go to any place in the city after midnight, we do not get a return passenger. The price of petrol is above Rs100 per litre now; diesel and CNG are also very costly. We need to make up for the ride back alone."
Last year, airport authorities removed the pre-paid autorickshaw stand in the arrivals area. This move hit flyers hard as they now have to deal with auto drivers outside asking for unreasonable fares.
A frequent flyer pointed out, "Why were these autos removed? Travelling with them is safer as they provide a receipt with a tag and numbers of the Pune police. If they cannot be inside the airport, why has no space been given to them outside for flyers, especially women, to feel safe?"
A senior member of the LV Antaral Autorickshaw Sanghatana, the organization of pre-paid auto drivers at the airport, said the situation was tough for them. "We have no place to do business but are still trying. The monopoly of other autos is such now that they don't let passengers come to us," he said.
Jatin Dheer, another frequent flyer, said he has now made friends with an auto driver at airport. "I call him in advance and he shows up. The authorities need to put implement some kind of order here," he said.
