Do non-Kannada speakers have to pay more for auto rides in Bengaluru? Viral video sparks debate

A video circulating on Instagram has sparked a debate over linguistic discrimination and unfair pricing in Bengaluru. The clip shows a Hindi-speaking woman being charged more by auto rickshaw drivers compared to a Kannada-speaking passenger. In the video, the two women try to hail autorickshaws, with one speaking Hindi and the other Kannada.

In one instance, a driver refused the Hindi-speaking woman but accepted the same ride request from the Kannada-speaking woman. In another case, a driver initially demanded Rs 300 from the Hindi speaker but lowered the fare to Rs 200 when she spoke in Kannada.

A third driver ignored the Hindi-speaking woman while agreeing to take the Kannada-speaking passenger. This incident has reignited concerns about language-based biases in the city's public transport system.

How social media reacted?

The video has garnered an impressive 4.7 million views and has been inundated with comments from users expressing shock at the price disparities and discrimination shown by the auto drivers.

One user wrote, "Real heights of stupidity and discrimination happens only here," and another asked, "Why do peeps glorify regional disparity and discrimination without any shame?"

Some people also compared the situation to auto services in other Indian cities like Mumbai and Hyderabad."Come to Hyderabad, no one will force you to learn any language and auto drivers will work for their living,"

Another user questioned why the auto drivers weren't using their fare meters."Metre is showpiece? Thank god at least in Mumbai auto runs on metre regardless of whether you speak Hindi or Marathi," they wrote.

Recently, with many passengers' inability to communicate in Kannada suspected to have contributed to some of their skirmishes with autorickshaw drivers, one man went an extra mile to bridge this language barrier between locals and migrant Benglureans.

Azzu Sulthan, a 31-year-old auto driver from Jakkur, has created a thoughtful poster featuring a few common Kannada phrases along with their English translations, to help non-native speakers engage with the local language.

Azzu's poster, taglined ‘Learn Kannada With Auto Kannadiga', has now spread across the city, with autos proudly displaying it, allowing passengers to learn basic conversational Kannada while they travel. Azzu's idea hasn't only drawn attention for its practical value but has also gained widespread appreciation on social media, with photos of the posters going viral.