Banaras Auto Drivers on Bumpy Ride After Pandemic Lockdowns

During the peak of the second COVID-19 wave, Abdul Rehman felt like jumping from the Rajghat Bridge in Uttar Pradesh’s holy city of Banaras. The frustrated electric autorickshaw driver, a native from West Bengal’s Dhulaipur, was in dire financial straits for several months. “I had no source of income. I told my wife that I feel like jumping from the Rajghat Bridge to commit suicide.”

Rehman, who owned an electric autorickshaw, now runs one on rent. “My electric rickshaw’s battery has a problem. From where will I get Rs 40,000 to fix it after all I have been through?” he asks.

The pandemic has devastated both the auto drivers of Banaras forcing them either to sell their vehicles or use one on rent or do petty jobs for survival. Petrol and electric autorickshaws require large investments with basic prices of Rs 3 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh respectively.

“I bought an autorickshaw just before the first lockdown on EMI. I was paying a daily parking charge of Rs 100 due to lack of space around my house,” says Vikas. Unable to pay the EMI, he sold his auto and left the state to work as a daily wager. He now visits his family whenever possible.

Several auto drivers went through similar experience. Bhola, an auto driver from Rajghat, recounts how many auto drivers were unable to pay rent and struggled to survive. “It was a very bad situation. Some sold the jewellery of their wives; others started selling vegetables.”

The majority of auto drivers in Banaras drive the vehicles on rent with their daily earnings not enough to even fulfil the most basic needs, like ration. “One earns good money only if he owns an auto; having one on rent is useless. Out of our daily earnings, we pay Rs 400 to the owners,” says Rehman said.

Even after the lockdowns were lifted, they were allowed to carry only three passengers against the usual maximum limit of five. “After my savings dried up during the lockdown, it was very difficult to make ends meet with the same fares and few passengers. Other business started doing well but we were stuck in the bad situation for some months,” says Sudama, another auto driver from the city’s Padao locality.

Another factor that impacted auto drivers was the increasing use of e-rickshaws, which became popular when Prime Minister Narendra Modi rode an e-rickshaw in Banaras and distributed 1,000 vehicles. The pollution-free e-rickshaws also became popular with the promotion of Banaras as a smart city.

Post-lockdowns, there has been an excess of e-rickshaws with more men from the weaker sections driving them due to the lack of employment. However, their ride has not been smooth either. “We are mostly driving empty Totos (e-rickshaws) There are very few passengers. We make several trips during the day but get only one passenger at times,” says Vicky, who blames “too many Totos and outsiders” for the problem pointing to the increase in migrant labourers returning to Banaras and taking up the occupation.

The rapid fall in the number of local and international tourists during the pandemic has also affected auto drivers. Besides, the online challan system introduced by the state government has become a “nuisance” for many auto drivers. “Challan fines as high as Rs 35,000 were imposed on several drivers. I was issued challans amounting to Rs 12,000 in the last one year,” says Ankit Kumar said, an auto driver from Padao.

The traffic police “click a picture of our number plates if they think we have broken any rule and we get an SMS”, says Kumar adding, “we are never informed of our offence”. The challan system has become more stringent with even the police issuing them. “Now, even the men in khaki can issue a challan.”

Auto drivers have started partially hiding their numberplates with a cloth to avoid getting clicked. “We don’t even know when they will click a photo and issue a challan. We are never stopped and informed of our offences but discover online that hefty fines have been imposed,” Kumar adds. Several auto drivers consider it police exploitation and this been one of their primary complaints against the Yogi Adityanath government.

The increasing price of petrol has hit auto drivers hard. Anil, an auto driver from Padao, says that passengers do not understand their plight. “If we ask for Rs 20 instead of Rs 15 from passengers explaining how we are unable to make our ends meet, most of them get angry and refuse to pay.”

Auto drivers also complain about the general attitude of the public and the police. Sunny stopped driving auto due to the abuses and humiliation by the public and the police. “It is not a respectable occupation. Even if the auto brushed a private vehicle, the owner abuses the driver. Passengers fight over Rs 5-Rs 10 and call us names. The police officers have the same attitude. I couldn’t tolerate the abuses and the humiliation,” he says.

The pandemic has only exacerbated the problems of the nearly one lakh auto drivers, who connect Banaras as buses connect only the outskirts.

The writers are freelance journalists.