Punekars hire cabbies and rickshawallas to drive them home after New Year bash
Mid-day: Fed up of traffic woes and to avoid drink-driving, Punekars hire services of cabbies and rickshawallas to drive them home after the New Year bash.
We drink, you drive. This seems to be the motto of party-goers in the city. To avoid drink driving on New Year’s eve, they have now turned to private cabbies and rickshawallas to drive them home safe. Crazy traffic and parking woes on December 31 are other reasons for the rise in demand.
Amit Anand, a resident of Aundh, said, “We have not decided where to party, but have already informed a local rickshaw guy. Last year, we had a huge problem trying to park our car. We had parties at Beverly Hills Hotel, Kondhwa and it took us almost an hour and a half to reach, and then we had to park the car some half a kilometre away.”
Many professionals also feel that since Pune registers maximum number of accidents, it’s safer to opt for private cabs.
According to Sandeep Roy, an IT professional, it’s risky to drive on New Year’s eve. You have to be careful with your drink and there are so many crazy drivers on the road.”
Private cabs and auto rickshaws are cashing in on this opportunity. In fact, private cab companies like Radio Wings and Makson Auto Wings have also planned workshops for their drivers to tackle drunken clients.
Though they are yet to begin with bookings they are hopeful that December 31 will see an increase of almost 40 per cent in business.
Amol Raut, Manager, Radio Wings, said, “We have 250 cars in the city and so far we have got 300 bookings for pick-ups. But we are being extra careful before booking cars as last year our drivers had to deal with clients who were not only drunk, but were also misbehaving.”
Aditya Makharia, proprietor, Makson Auto Hires feels that if the December 31 deadline is extended till 2 am they will definitely make more better profits than last year.”
Baba Shinde, chairman, Pune City Autorickshaw Federation, said, “We have observed that drivers make double the money on New Year’s. On a regular day, rickshawallas earn Rs 400, but on New Year’s eve they make huge profits. Moreover, hiring an autorickshaw will also keep a check on drink driving and reduce risks of accidents.”
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