Travelling daily by auto in Delhi for last 5 months have taught me lot of intricacies about the behavioural aspect of the auto drivers in Delhi. Most of them don’t own an Auto but rent it on a daily basis, the rent for a single shift is around 250 Rs (12 Hours) and for both the shifts it is 450. So time is the essence for revenue generation for them. Few of the interesting aspects I noticed are:
1. They try to make up for the time lost by charging extra money , for example if there is a auto waiting for passengers for more than 1 hour, he will always quote higher price as he tries to make up for the lost time and this behaviours results in loss of more time. To get the best price always approach a auto which has just reached its destination.
2. Most of them want to talk to you and know what you do.
3. They understand demand and supply better than us, knows when in demand with too many people chasing them, they will increase the rate exponentially.
4. Very well versed with the current affairs, especially news related to the city.
5. Will never go by meter, in 5 months, I travelled by Meter reading just once.
Interestingly the behavioural aspect and the way of doing business of Mumbai auto drivers are completely different from the one in Delhi. Mumbai Auto drivers try to focus more on last mile drive whereas Delhi auto drivers are always looking for longer distance travellers.
