I am asking for all tourists who have been to India and all citizens of India who are fed up with being scammed time and time again to take a stand with me and share this video on complaint boards, blogs, websites, etc.

This has been an ongoing issue across India, more specially in Bangalore for years and only seems to be getting worse.

This morning was my 23rd birthday and it was one of the worst rickshaw rides I’ve had all month. It isn’t uncommon to get a rickshaw that will charge you double or even triple the price any given day. It also isn’t uncommon for them to haggle a price with you before agreeing to use the meter.

What to know about Rickshaw Scams:

This morning I was getting in the rickshaw when another girl hopped in with me – this is not safe nor ethical. I wanted to take a photo of his drivers certification and that was not present anywhere in the auto – extremely illegal. The driver insisted it would be cheaper for me and is only a little out of the way before he took off in the wrong direction. A ride which usually takes me 30 minutes took 1.5 hours. The girl got out after a few kilometres and paid the first part of the toll. The driver refused to restart the metre for me and then told me the ride would now cost me 320 Rupees – I typically pay 120 Rupees. I refused of course and he continued to try and haggle a price with me which would make him happy that he had ripped someone off for the day. He gave up and continued driving – the metre had not been reset so I kept tabs on the price and decided I would minus what the girl had already paid once I arrived at my final destination. In Bangalore everyone knows that there is the fast, convenient route and then there is the long, traffic ridden route on Ring Road. I demanded he avoid Ring Road and of course he gets so jammed up in traffic that it is impossible to turn around. At this point I was fed up and decided that I would not pay more than 150 Rupees for this terrible ride which ended me late for work and scared. If you watch the video, you’ll hear me explaining to him why he will only be paid 150 Rupees. He continues to fight back and eventually followed me up to my office, yelling at my boss and refusing to leave. He still hadn’t got what he wanted so he started to call the police – this is when my boss called as well – we were not in the wrong. He rook his money in the end, pissed off and fed up and walked away.

This happens to me and the rest of my colleagues every day, every morning we get up to go to work we have to prepare for the morning madness of finding a rickshaw.

Another quick instance I would like to share with you happened a few weeks ago when I slammed my head on a bus and needed to get stitches. Despite the fact that I couldn’t stand straight and I was covered in blood, we had to haggle numerous different drivers before one of them agreed to use the meter. Because they were aware we were in a state of emergency, they started their bargaining at 5 times the price the metre should have been. Taking advantage of tourists and local citizens is wrong and is NOT OKAY.

Common problems: dangerous rickshaws not in a condition for roads, drivers refusing to give you a ride if it isn’t where they want to go, drivers overcharging and refusing to use the metre, drivers without licenses, drivers picking up other passengers, drivers changing the price midway through the ride, etc.

Watch and see my morning experience:

Please, if you’ve experienced this, if you know people who have experienced this… share this video with friends, family, complaint boards, everything! I am aware that the government tis starting to crack down on rickshaw scams but we need a faster solution.

SHARE, SHARE, SHARE!

Let’s help make a difference and make the lives of Indian citizens and visitors to India safer and easier.

Thanks to my love Emma from the UK who snapped this photo for me!

“If driver demands excess fare, report to nearest police station”

Check out some of my other stories including: 25 Things I’ve Realized not to take for Granted