Finding the Niche

Like many things, my experience with auto rickshaws has been mixed. There have been some very good experiences but overwhelmingly there has been not so good experience. My not so good experience has more to do with my insistence on sticking to the "meter" that is supposed to be mandated by the government. My other irritation has been around the refusal of the auto drivers to come to the place where I want to go. Both the situations mentioned above tends to be magnified during early hours or late nights when one needs the service the most. This is the time when the demand supply gaps drive up the price to an extent that one can easily call it as fleecing. 

Irrespective of my experience, I see that auto rickshaws are depicted in a very positive way in Indian movies. If one googles for number of Auto in Bangalore, the number is estimated to be around 1,60,000 in Bengaluru alone. In a relatively conservative estimate, we can think that in Karnataka there could be around 3,00,000 auto drivers. If we think about all India level, the number can be even more significant. If we add up their family members too, then it seems to be a good business for the movie makers to make sure that they are put in a positive light. 

My experience of the auto rickshaws is more from a customer stand point. The movie makers seem to look at the auto drivers and perhaps their families as loyal customers to their brand of movies. I wondered as to how auto rickshaws manage to still be relevant in spite of not so happy customers. We have been seeing the advent of Ubers and Olas, we have seen things like "Bounce" and "Rent a Bike”, we are also now seeing the bikes on rent with the pilot/driver and so on. In Bangalore, we are also seeing that the Metro train is coming up in more places and to be fair even the public buses are more and covering more areas. With the advent of all these, I would have expected that Auto rickshaws can be history very soon. However, my prophecy (or an evil wish actually) has not come true so far when it comes to auto rickshaws. 

When I started looking at auto rickshaws setting aside my personal experience, I was then able to see some of the things that I had missed out. Auto rickshaws are addressing the last mile problem. Many years back when I was staying in Mumbai, it was more or less a given thing that we take auto rickshaws only till the local train station from our homes and vice versa. During initial days of my stay, I used to take auto to the local train station alone. That was when I noticed that some of the people considered me a snob since it was a practice to take up the "shared auto " which meant that the last mile was made cheaper by this practice. Fast forward to Bangalore (Bengaluru actually) of today and started seeing that the similar practice is prevalent in Bengaluru too. In Bengaluru, the commute of people in shared autos is not just to the Metro station but to the main roads where the Bus frequency is more. There are many localities where going from one place to another within the locality is too near to set up any systematic public transport system but quite far for a walk. In that sense auto rickshaws have been providing value add to the customers in the area where the traditional public transports or the sensational Ubers/Olas have not found a solution. When it comes to shared auto, it is indeed economical since typically the customers end up paying Rs. 10 per ride. The auto drivers on other end up carrying way more than stipulated number of people but customers seem to be OK with that inconvenience since it is for a very short period.

Although I have not taken the shared auto in Bengaluru, I have experienced it in smaller towns in Karnataka. I have had the experience in Haveri (a town in Karnataka), where the ride between the Haveri Railway station to the Haveri Bus stand costs Rs 10 per person in shared auto. The auto which is meant to carry 3 people (with difficulty) ends up carrying minimum 7 people in addition to the driver (Trust me, I am not exaggerating) with luggage! Since there are no buses plying between railway station and bus stand, obviously the auto is the only mode of transport. The point however is, there is still a value add that they are providing and there are no cheaper alternatives to this at various places. While the 4 wheelers and two wheelers have been vying for a slice of market, the three wheeled autos still manage to be relevant. Never mind my liking or disliking of the same.

The lesson that I derived from this

• There is a niche to capture. Even when faced with efficient and big competitors, there is still some space to be explored to stay relevant. In this example, Auto drivers have managed to focus on the small distance travel which bigger players out there are yet to provide solution.
• If the value add is perceived to be high, the customer seems to be forgiving on poor service.