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With soaring auto fares and no reliable options, riders are quietly using saved phone numbers to keep ferrying passengers – but not everyone feels safe.
Riders are using phone numbers saved from earlier trips and digital payments to contact regular customers. (Representative Image) (Photo: The Hindu)
Ever since the Karnataka government banned bike taxi services, commuters in Bengaluru have been receiving direct WhatsApp messages from riders offering rides.
Many of these riders are reaching out using contact numbers saved from previous trips or parcel deliveries.
Popular pickup zones such as tech parks, Metro stations, and office areas are now seeing informal ride arrangements. Instead of app bookings, riders are sending their live location and offering pickups at the same rates as earlier.
From Parcel to Passenger
A new trick being used is parcel bookings. Some riders ask customers if the delivery is actually a person needing a ride. If so, they suggest booking a parcel, then cancelling it, and coordinating directly instead.
Riders are now encouraging commuters to save their numbers for future rides — especially on fixed routes like from Metro stations to offices or PG accommodations. Areas such as Koramangala, Silk Board, Bellandur, Electronic City, and Outer Ring Road are hotspots for these informal networks.
Safety vs Affordability
While these makeshift rides are cheaper and more reliable than autos, many passengers are concerned about privacy. Some worry about how their numbers were stored and say they never gave permission to be contacted again.
“I find it cheaper, yes, but it’s also strange to get a random message asking if I want a ride,” said Kalpana from Vasanth Nagar, as per The New Indian Express. “I didn’t expect my number to be saved.”
With autorickshaw fares skyrocketing — often Rs 120-Rs 150 for trips under 2 km — many feel trapped between expensive choices and technically illegal options.
Bengalureans are now urging the government to come up with a more workable plan. As short-distance travel becomes costlier and less convenient, many say the ban has only pushed services underground without solving the real problem — affordable, last-mile transport.
Samreen Pall, Senior Sub-Editor at News18, is a Computer Science graduate but a writer at heart, Samreen has one motto that she swears by: ‘Everything is dull and useless if it has no drama in it.’ This motto c…Read More
Samreen Pall, Senior Sub-Editor at News18, is a Computer Science graduate but a writer at heart, Samreen has one motto that she swears by: ‘Everything is dull and useless if it has no drama in it.’ This motto c… Read More
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