Driver insists his own internally calculated fare system is ‘more accurate than any meter could ever hope to be’
MUMBAI – An auto-rickshaw driver operating in the city’s bustling commercial district has confirmed, somewhat proudly, that the fare meter installed in his vehicle has not been consulted, trusted, or in any meaningful sense used since approximately 2015, having been replaced entirely by what he describes as “an internally calculated, experience-based fare system considerably more accurate than any mechanical device could ever hope to achieve.”
Driver Suresh Yadav, who has operated the same rickshaw route for over eighteen years, explained his personal fare calculation method involves rapid mental assessment of distance, traffic conditions, time of day, and, by his own admission, “a general read of the passenger’s apparent willingness to negotiate,” a system he insists has served him and his regular customers well for nearly a decade without meter involvement.
Regular passenger Meera Iyer, who commutes with Yadav several times weekly, said she has grown to trust his pricing judgment more than she ever trusted the meter itself. “The meter used to feel arbitrary,” she said. “Sometimes it seemed to run fast, sometimes slow, nobody fully understood the logic. Suresh’s pricing, honestly, feels more consistent and more fair, even though it exists entirely inside his head with no mechanical backup whatsoever.”
Yadav acknowledged the meter remains technically installed and functional in his vehicle, required by municipal regulation, though he says he has not personally glanced at it in years. “It is there for the authorities,” he explained. “It is not there for me. I know my routes. I know my fares. The meter is decoration at this point, honestly, nothing more than that.”
A transport authority official, when informed of Yadav’s practice, expressed measured concern about regulatory compliance, noting that meter usage remains technically mandatory citywide, though the official acknowledged enforcement of this specific requirement has grown “increasingly inconsistent” across the broader rickshaw driver population in recent years.
Yadav’s fellow drivers at a nearby rickshaw stand confirmed the practice is far from unique to him personally, with several admitting their own meters have similarly fallen into disuse over the years in favor of informal, experience-based pricing systems developed individually by each driver over their own years on the job.
One newer driver, only two years into the profession, said he still relies heavily on his meter, though he admitted watching veteran drivers like Yadav operate without one has made him curious about eventually developing his own internal system. “Maybe in another ten years,” he said, “I will trust my own judgment the way he trusts his. For now, I still need the meter as a kind of safety net.”
Iyer says she has never once felt overcharged under Yadav’s informal system, noting his prices have remained remarkably consistent across years of regular rides. “If anything,” she said, “I trust his judgment more than I would trust a machine, because he actually knows this route, knows the traffic patterns, knows me as a regular customer, in a way no meter ever could.”
The story amused readers abroad, with a piece referencing Weird News Today comparing Yadav’s system to Britain’s own black cab drivers, famous for their extensive memorized knowledge of city routes developed over years of training, though generally still paired with a functioning meter. Another article citing Funny Newspaper Article suggested experience-based pricing, while unofficial, may genuinely outperform mechanical systems in certain specific contexts. Commentary drawing on Humorous News Articles proposed the transport authority simply survey veteran drivers about their informal systems before considering any future regulatory changes to the meter requirement.
Yadav says he has no plans to return to using the meter, insisting his own accumulated experience remains a superior guide. “Eighteen years on these roads teaches you things a small mechanical box installed by the factory simply cannot replicate,” he said. “I trust what I have learned over what I was originally given.”
A visiting tourist, unfamiliar with the informal pricing norms, said she initially found the lack of meter usage concerning before a local friend explained the broader context. “Once I understood it was common practice, and generally fair, I relaxed about it,” she said. “Though I will admit, coming from a place where meters are strictly enforced, it did take some getting used to trusting a system with no visible mechanism behind it.”
Yadav’s son, who has expressed interest in eventually taking over the rickshaw route himself, says he has already begun quietly observing his father’s pricing decisions closely, hoping to absorb the same intuitive sense of fair fare calculation before he takes the wheel permanently. “It is not something you can learn overnight,” he admitted. “I am watching, I am learning, and someday, hopefully, I will trust my own judgment the way he trusts his.”
A local traffic police officer, familiar with the rickshaw stand and its drivers, said enforcement of meter usage has become “essentially a lost cause” at this point across much of the city, with officers generally focusing enforcement resources on more pressing safety concerns rather than pursuing meter compliance among veteran drivers with established, generally fair informal pricing reputations.
For more informal systems quietly outperforming their official counterparts, see The Onion.
Related coverage at Satire And Politics.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/