Auto drivers forced to bribe for CNG refill

GURGAON: Uttam Singh, an auto driver, reaches the CNG station in Sector 29 on Friday morning, gets a refill for Rs 90. He slips a 100-rupee note into the attendant’s pocket and doesn’t get back the balance of Rs 10. This is the unspoken pact between 18,000 CNG auto drivers and the CNG pumps attendants.
Every auto driver in Gurgaon is made to pay a tip of Rs 10 for every refill.The practice is prevalent in all four stations – located in Sector 29, Sector 56, Sector 22 and Sector 44.
When TOI visited the booths for a reality check, the auto drivers were seen following it religiously without complaints. “We were earlier asked to pay Rs 10 each time. Now, the attendant agrees to take even Rs 5 at times. We are accustomed to it now,” said Mushtaf Ali, a driver after a refill at the Sector 44 pump.
Sunil Grover, a driver, said that the drivers were helpless as none wants to pick up a fight with the attendant. “If we stop paying them this money, they will make us stand in a queue for two hours which adversely affects our business. It’s better to pay Rs 10 and get the fuel refill in just 10-15 minutes,” said a driver Jasbir Singh.
There are some who pay even a higher tip to jump the queue. “If I pay Rs 50 to the attendant, he will give precedence to me over all others in the queue. But this practice should be done away with. This is quite unfair,” said Gajender.
There are nearly 18,000 autos in Gurgaon city and each auto driver goes for refill 2-3 times daily. And if an auto driver pays Rs 5-10 each time, it adds up to around an illegitimate Rs 90,000 every day going into the pockets of CNG pump attendants. The auto drivers, in turn, recover this money from the commuters.
“I have to pay Rs 350 every day as rent to the auto owner and the daily fuel costs me nearly Rs 200. On top of it, I am made to pay Rs 30-40 daily as bribe. So, what we can keep with us is only the money we earn over and above Rs 600,” said Gajender Singh aka Kalu, a driver at the railway station.
When TOI raised the issue with a CNG pump manager, Surinder Yadav, he said, “According to the rules, we have allocated one refilling terminal for CNG autos to ensure that auto drivers are not made to stand in a queue along with cars and buses. Why then do they agree to pay any kind of bribe when it’s their right to get their refill? We have even put up a board telling the drivers not to pay a single penny more than the bill.”
Yadav, in charge of HCG CNG pump in Sec 44, however, admitted that there could be some dishonest attendants at the pump. “We will take action against those who indulge in this fraud. We have fired some employees for this in past,” Yadav said.