GENRE: In Focus

During the last few months, there have been several instances of the Karnataka Transport Department seizing cabs that operate under on-demand app-based aggregators. All hell broke loose for Ola and Uber cabs who were operating merrily in Bengaluru, when the State Transport Department introduced a formal set of rules governing taxi aggregators, on April 2nd, 2016.  In the previous two stories on taxi aggregators, you read about how Ola and Uber have changed the commuting pattern in Bengaluru, the commuters response to it, and how has it changed the lives of cab drivers in city. The policy called as the Karnataka On-demand…

Taxi aggregators have brought a change in the commuting pattern in the city. Recently, on a late evening, I waited for an auto/cab at HSR Layout that can take me to Gandhi Nagar. At the auto stand, the driver says: “No meter madam. Gandhi Nagar is far,” hence he demands 500 bucks. I let go of the option and stop another auto on the road. This driver tries to strike a deal for Rs 350. I let go of this too. Then I try to search for a cab/auto in Ola app. The auto driver takes me to Gandhi Nagar…

Ever since the app-based cab aggregators - Ola, Uber, TaxiForSure entered the Indian market, a lot of stories have been told over the lucrative offers they give to the cab drivers and how the lives of cab drivers have changed. We have even come across the cases of highly educated and handsomely paid executives quitting their jobs in Bengaluru, to take up driving as a profession. The profession of cab drivers affiliated to app-based aggregators has been seen as a road to prosperity. There have been accounts of drivers earning even upto Rs 80,000 a month, which is equal to…

Two years ago, Anirudh, father of a 9th standard student and resident of HSR Layout, decided to admit his daughter to a boarding school managed by a former athlete in Kodagu. Anirudh strongly feels that in a city like Bengaluru it’s not possible to send the budding athlete for training in Kanteerava Stadium twice a day due to traffic. So the child was shifted from Bengaluru to Kodagu with the sole intention of providing her a better athletics training. Mallika Jaswanth is a mother of two school-going kids. She is a resident of Old Airport Road and works as a…

Hoarding displayed on one of the major roads of Bengaluru. Pic: Akshath G V In the first part, we explored why BBMP is not making any money from illegal hoardings. Next part of the series tried to explore why the unauthorised hoardings are not removed. This part will examine the efforts being made to set the system right. A few attempts were made in the past to modify the existing policies related to advertisement. Strangely, every attempt so far has gone futile and reformation moves just did not take off. While implementation of the existing policy is a different aspect,…

Last week, we covered the issue of many parents in Bengaluru protesting against the private schools hiking fees, which they say has doubled in last 4-5 years. But, is there another side to the story? Citizen Matters spoke to a few school managements and teachers. What are the costs involved in running a school? "It’s not just the maintenance expenses that the school managements have to bear, but the initial establishment cost too," says Dr M Srinivasan, Founder and Chairman of GEAR International School. For instance, he says, if a person had to buy two acres of land in a prime…

This election season, Citizen Matters Chennai conducted a survey to analyse the state of the affairs in various neighborhoods of Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC),  which has thrown light on some interesting facts about the residents’ perception of local governance. The survey conducted by AskByPoll for Citizen Matters, was to understand the view of Chennaiites on public policy, local body representatives, quality of local governance, performance of MLAs, and important civic issues. Over 100 respondents from different parts of Chennai took part in the survey, out of which 15 percent were from the  extended areas  of the GCC. Around 68 percent…

In the first part of the series, we explained why the BBMP is not making any money from advertising. This part will explain the nexus between officials and enforcement contractors, how contractors make money in advertisement removal and the flawed enforcement contract system. Illegal advertisement and hoarding removal is a web where the nexus between advertisers, officials and enforcement contractors raises its ugly head. What’s the role of enforcement contractors in advertisement? Enforcement contractors are entrusted with the responsibility of removing illegal hoardings. A contractor with integrity, which is a rare breed to find in an area where the monthly…

In the first part of the series, we explained why the BBMP is not making any money from advertising. This part will explain the nexus between officials and enforcement contractors, how contractors make money in advertisement removal and the flawed enforcement contract system. Illegal advertisement and hoarding removal is a web where the nexus between advertisers, officials and enforcement contractors raises its ugly head. What’s the role of enforcement contractors in advertisement? Enforcement contractors are entrusted with the responsibility of removing illegal hoardings. A contractor with integrity, which is a rare breed to find in an area where the monthly…

A huge illegal hoarding near Ejipura Signal. Pic: Shree D N This huge IPL hoarding looms above the building next to Ejipura Signal. It’s not one hoarding - they are in plenty. There are no visible license tags or numbers on the hoarding. One such hoarding in a premium location like this costs about Rs 2 lakhs per month to advertise. As we capture it on our mobile, a person sitting in the shop below stands up, alarmed. He asks, “why are you taking the photo?” He sits back satisfied upon hearing from us that the IPL imagery on the…