Chennai’s transport system is the envy of most visitors to the State. The city has all modes of transport, from suburban trains to Metro Rail. The taxi cabs, share autorickshaws and, most recently, the on-call two-wheeler drop services, make up the entire gamut of facilities.
However, the most ubiquitous of these are the autorickshaws, and yet they have grown in a path riddled with struggles; though they are a law unto themselves, they have earned people’s patronage.
Autorickshaws were introduced in the early 1970s, says V. Sriram in his book Chennai. Initially, they were allowed to carry just two passengers. According to a report in The Hindu on November 21, 1983, the Transport Department permitted the vehicles to carry three passengers as they were violating the two-passenger norm on the sly. The report also urged the authorities to address the fleecing of passengers. It called for displaying fare cards at the Central Railway Station and the airport to help passengers. The report referred to a practice in Ernakulam in Kerala that could be followed in Chennai as well.
