Fare increased by ₹1–2 every second: How Bengaluru passenger was scammed by auto driver near Silk Board

Initially, the passenger assumed there might have been a recent fare revision. Moments later, he noticed the fare increasing rapidly.

A man who arrived in Bengaluru on an overnight bus found himself caught in an auto-rickshaw fare scam near the busy Silk Board Junction. Amid light drizzle, an auto driver approached the passenger, demanding twice the standard fare for a short trip. After a brief negotiation, both agreed on a fare, one and a half times higher than the meter charge.

The auto’s meter started at ₹25 but did not display the distance covered, as per a post shared on Reddit. (PTI)

The journey, however, soon took a suspicious turn. The auto’s meter started at ₹25 but did not display the distance covered, as per a post shared by a Reddit user. Initially, the passenger assumed there might have been a recent fare revision. Moments later, he noticed the fare increasing rapidly, by one or two rupees every second, raising doubts about the meter’s accuracy.

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“The meter started at 25, didn't show KM count, should've smelled a rat there, but I thought there might have been some increase. Then the fare started increasing by 1-2 rupees every second. I first brushed it off because he was going a bit fast, but even then it seemed fishy,” the post shared on social media platform Reddit read.

By the time they were halfway through the trip, the meter showed ₹112, far more than the expected total fare. When confronted, the driver first claimed that the new rate was ₹45 per kilometre. The passenger verified on Google that the official fare in Bengaluru is approximately ₹18 per kilometre. The driver quickly changed his explanation that the rain had damaged the meter.

“At some point, the meter was displaying Rs. 112 - we were 1/3rd or 1/2 way through but the meter fare was showing more than what our total should've been! I asked him to stop and he first started with "yeah meter is now Rs. 45 per km". When I pulled up Google showing ₹18, he quickly switched his tale to "the rain must have broken the meter,” the post further read.

The driver further claimed that they had travelled 2.5 kilometres. Choosing to end the journey, the passenger paid ₹90, roughly double the legitimate fare to avoid further dispute. He also warned the driver that the matter could be reported to a police official known to him.

Although an attempted Google Pay transaction failed, leaving the passenger without the driver’s contact information, he managed to note down the vehicle’s registration number, which was partially faded. He later booked a Rapido ride to reach home safely.