The Hindu Business Line : `I'll be there in a jiffy'

THERE'S probably nothing more irritating than to hear a loudmouth shriek into his mobile phone in a public place. You certainly don't want to hear of his, or his kith and kin's, exploits.

But, you generally have little choice. You have a right to curse the technology or the poor sense of etiquette in general, all right.

But do you know that a mobile phone can actually add to the income of some users, especially those struggling to climb the social ladder?

A recent autorickshaw ride turned out to be unusual for this writer. In the middle of the journey, the autorickshaw slowed down and veered to the left.

That isn't unusual. Drivers usually take passengers' time to stop at a petrol bunk for a refill or merely stop, reach backwards and turn the petrol tap to `reserve' mode.

But that wasn't why the driver, V. Daniel, slowed down that day. He wanted to take a call on his mobile phone in peace. Granted, mobiles have become commonplace today. But eWorld wanted to know if anyone really made money out of investing in a mobile phone, given its running costs. We spoke to several such drivers and got interesting and varied responses.

V. Daniel, the driver who conscientiously stopped the vehicle when answering a call, spends about Rs 350 a month on a prepaid card. He rarely makes any calls and uses the mobile only to take calls from a set of known clients.

Daniel's is the most startling revelation. He says, "I make at least Rs 2,000 more per month now, thanks to being accessible through the mobile phone." He has owned this phone for close to one year.

Says Daniel, "One operator bundled a phone with his service. I bought it for Rs 1,500 and they gave me Rs 500 worth talk time." In effect, his handset cost was only Rs 1,000.

The other important change to his life is his almost-total liberation from the auto-stand he belongs to.

Auto-stands are double-edged swords. While an auto-stand helps a driver access a continuous flow of customers, hearsay has it that in some cases, drivers have to pay a lump sum to that stand's union.

It also results in drivers from those stands demanding more money per trip from customers than they would normally.

Now, Daniel says, "I save about five hours a day. Before the mobile phone came into my life, I would spend that time at the stand, just waiting for customers."

Now, he comes back home and either rests or attends to other work that demands his attention.

According to him, "In time, it could also mean that I could pursue a parallel line of work." If nothing at all, he says, "I wash my clothes in time."

He owns the vehicle he drives now. With the extra money he earns, his dream now is to buy another auto-rickshaw and let it out on rent.

Daniel did not own a landline before the mobile came. Clearly, the ease with which one can shut off running expenses with prepaid cards is an incentive to buy a mobile phone.

Kanakaraj is another auto driver who agrees with Daniel. He spends around the same amount monthly and says that his list of around 60 customers keeps him busy. One of his clients is an elderly lady who finds his owning a mobile phone very useful. She says, "As an arthritis patient, it is impossible for me to walk up to an auto stand and hail a vehicle."

But neither of these drivers has given up the auto stand wholly. They still keep in touch. It gives them a sense of belonging and security. Daniel says, "I visit the stand with my auto at least twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. But those long hours are all gone."

The mobile in a friendly auto-driver's hand helps patrons escape the tyranny of the auto-stand in another form. Stands for autos are typically near main roads. And, in some areas, drivers belonging to a particular stand do not allow other autos to park in the area. Says a 66-year old regular user of autos, "My house is about a km away from the nearest stand. And those drivers don't allow other autos to wander around idly and solicit business near my house." Her problems vanished once a friendly auto-driver acquired a mobile phone.

The only downside to the issue is that the patrons' phone numbers become public property in the hands of select auto-drivers. She says, "As long as they don't spread the number around or misuse it, we are safe."

Not wholly welcome

But not all drivers find this gadget useful. Says Sarathy, another auto driver, "When clients in my area call me for a ride, I am typically away with another client." His complaint is, "Sometimes, we are unable to refuse since the caller is a known customer. And, when I arrive a few minutes late due to traffic, the client has lost his patience and has gone away in another auto." His point is, if he hadn't been called, he would have found another chance customer without having to ride back and waste petrol. In that sense, the mobile phone is a curse for him.

He scoffs at the suggestion of additional income thanks to his mobile phone. "I haven't seen any increase in my monthly earnings because of the mobile. Sometimes, it's a gadget to flaunt. The biggest use that I have put it to is to alert my friends in my auto stand about a prospective customer if I am unable to take that ride." So, a group of auto drivers, groupism stemming from the auto-stand itself, could benefit from the technology. And, he says, at Rs 220 a month that he spends on pre-paid cards, it's not a costly proposition even if he doesn't see returns.

He adds that an auto-driver's life is all rough and tumble. "Mobile phones, if poorly pocketed, fall out easily when drivers bend down to start the auto. Several drivers give up on the machine after such damage."

He isn't the only one to dismiss the mobile phone. Says Kaliappan, an auto driver who does not own a mobile phone, "I have a set of clients whom I know very well. For so long, they have timed their outings such that I am informed ahead and can be there when they want me. If there is a change in plan, they call me at home on my landline, either in the morning or at night. Even now, because of my schedules, I am refusing requests from clients. I don't need a mobile phone."

And when it comes to flaunting it, Sarathy goes the whole hog. It is nine months since he first got a mobile phone. The current one is his fourth handset. What happened to the rest? "When friends admire a handset and ask for one, I sell it to them at a discount." He has had handsets from Nokia, Motorola, Siemens and now owns a Panasonic.

Second hand market vibrant

While decrying the mobile phone, Sarathy pointed out to a pawnbroker's shop to show where he had acquired his latest mobile phone.

Intrigued, eWorld wanted to know why pawnbrokers were selling phones. Then it became clear; First-hand mobile phones are good for mortgaging with pawnbrokers when borrowing money. When borrowers default on their loans, the pawnbroker promptly puts up the phone for sale. Word gets around and a buyer emerges.

Sarathy says that second-hand phones are available for a few hundred rupees.

Picture by G.R.N. Somashekar

bharatk@thehindu.co.in

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