New Delhi: Amid heavy rains and the festive rush, cab and auto drivers charged exorbitant fares from passengers. On cab aggregator apps, the availability of rides was initially very low, and the few cabs that were available were charging up to three times the regular fare.
A similar situation was seen with auto-rickshaws and bike taxi services. As a result, brothers and sisters traveling for the festival had to face both inconvenience and the burden of costly rides. For example, a ride from Mandi House to Laxmi Nagar, which usually costs ₹100, shot up to ₹300 on Saturday due to the rain and evening rush.
The same inflated rates applied to routes from Badarpur, Okhla, IGI Airport, and New Delhi Railway Station to other parts of the city. If that wasn’t enough, many passengers also faced last-minute cancellations from drivers after long waits.
On X (formerly Twitter), several users complained that cancellations caused them to miss scheduled trains. Priyanka from East of Kailash shared that she had to go to Karol Bagh for rakhi celebrations, but she couldn’t get a cab even after a long wait. Auto drivers were refusing rides altogether, and those willing to go were demanding three to four times the normal fare. In the end, she had no choice but to agree to their demands.
