Inflation, competition from e-rickshaws, hefty challans: Delhi’s auto drivers highlight challenges ahead of polls

“I have an old and deep relationship with auto drivers. Today, I have eaten the salt of auto drivers, and I am committed to their welfare,” the Aam Aadmi Party chief said just after he and his wife visited an auto rickshaw driver’s home for lunch on December 10, 2024.

Arvind Kejriwal was making his poll pitch to the auto drivers, who have been a core voter base for the AAP since its inception. In 2013 and 2015, the auto driver community played a key role in the party’s election campaign in Delhi, and their vehicles carried the party’s posters. In the 2020 Assembly election too, their support continued. However, today, the auto drivers CNBC-TV18 spoke to say their woes have been piling up over the past decade, and they are now divided in their political leanings.

Mohammed Khalid, an auto driver in Laxmi Nagar, said, “Kejriwal made electricity free, water free, and that’s it. The roads are not clean. See how clean UP is; Delhi has failed in comparison to it.”

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Manmohan Kumar Saxena, who picks up passengers from the New Delhi Railway Station, said, “I pay ₹9 per unit for electricity to the house owner and ₹200 for water. If you want to make electricity and water free, do it for the poor people, not for those who are house owners. They take money from us and run their ACs.”

The auto drivers also complained that the cost of living in the national capital has gone up while their incomes have dwindled, especially due to competition from e-rickshaws and bike taxis.

Jeevshankar, an auto driver for over three decades, said that he barely makes ₹500 per day. “Sometimes I just make ₹200 or ₹300 in a day, and then I have to pay rent or cover gas costs as well,” he said. Anil Kumar, the breadwinner of a family of six, said that the rising prices of CNG are burning a hole in his pocket. “Earlier, CNG used to cost ₹43; now it’s gone up to ₹76.9,” Kumar said.

Rajinder Soni, President of the Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh, pointed out that there is no limit on the number of e-rickshaws plying on the roads. He said, “If the Supreme Court has put a limit of 1 lakh on autos, then why is there no such norm for e-rickshaws?”

The auto driver community’s demands from the new government include subsidies to purchase new CNG vehicles, dedicated auto stands, and relief from hefty challans. Jitendra Gupta, who has been driving an auto for two decades, said that the Congress government was better for him.

“During Congress, I would have received a ₹500 challan for not wearing a uniform, but under AAP, I recently received a challan for ₹15,000. Auto drivers are not that rich that they can pay such a huge fine,” Gupta said.

Auto driver Rajmal Dubey expressed anger over Kejriwal’s failure to provide proper stands. Dubey said, “He promised many things but did nothing.”

While some auto drivers have joined the AAP, the auto rickshaw unions are seen as a crucial vote bank, and every party in the three-cornered race is keen on winning these drivers over.

Kejriwal announced five guarantees, including life insurance of up to ₹10 lakh, accident insurance of up to ₹5 lakh, and financial assistance of ₹1 lakh for a daughter’s wedding.

Meanwhile, the BJP has proposed the formation of an Auto-Taxi Driver Welfare Board, which will provide members with ₹10 lakh life insurance cover and ₹5 lakh accident cover.

Team Kejriwal is confident that this group of 1.5 lakh aam aadmis will support their party in securing another term. However, the BJP is hoping that anti-incumbency and its promises to these men in brown will help fulfill its vision of a ‘double engine’ government.

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