Unauthorised autorickshaw operators have returned to Pune airport and are allegedly approaching arriving passengers with inflated fares, despite a ban on waiting near the terminal and tighter security monitoring. The operators are now using different points around the airport and, according to Aeromall officials, decoys to evade restrictions.
The latest reported incident took place at about 2.30 am on November 5, when army veteran and businessman Vineed Nedungadi was approached outside the arrival area. A driver offered to take him to Salunke Vihar Road, roughly 10 km away, for Rs1,200. After Nedungadi objected, the driver agreed to lower the fare only if the ride was shared.
Nedungadi instead took a shuttle bus to Aeromall and hired a prepaid autorickshaw for Rs435 from the cab pick-up point. He later told the Times of India that authorised operators were shocked when he described the incident.
Airport authorities barred autorickshaws from entering the terminal area in September following complaints of passenger exploitation raised by former MP Raju Shetti. Regular flyers and authorised prepaid operators told the newspaper that unauthorised drivers initially disappeared when the restrictions were enforced, but gradually returned using new methods to contact passengers.
An authorised prepaid autorickshaw operator said the business had improved for about a month while airport authorities regularly removed unauthorised drivers. The operator, who requested anonymity, also said authorised drivers were now being stopped from approaching the arrival area to guide passengers towards the prepaid stand at Aeromall, while unauthorised operators continued to approach travellers.
Businessman and regular flyer Sudhir Jadhav said the drivers were no longer gathering directly outside the arrival gate. Instead, they moved around the route to Aeromall and approached passengers at different points. Some allegedly claimed to represent the prepaid service. Jadhav said first-time visitors to Pune could be misled, particularly during late evening hours when passenger and vehicle movement increases.
Y S Rajput, vice-president of Aeromall, said unauthorised operators had developed ways to bypass security restrictions despite close monitoring by Central Industrial Security Force personnel. According to Rajput, one driver enters the premises with another person posing as a passenger, drops that person off and leaves. The decoy then moves around the airport and persuades arriving passengers to hire an autorickshaw, sometimes using misleading claims.
Rajput said such operators were easier to identify during the day but became harder to track in the evening as passenger and vehicle movement increased. He added that the practice continued despite repeated efforts to keep unauthorised operators away from the airport. The report did not include a fresh response from airport authorities or the CISF on the latest allegations.
