Conclusions: Unfortunately, discussions about the autorickshaw industry are hampered by the lack of any methodical studies or information about autorickshaw utilisation rates, credit availability, rent-seeking owners, licence ownership patterns, harassment by the police or even the actual income levels of autorickshaw drivers. It would, thus, be difficult to blame autorickshaw drivers for malpractices when local governments adopt a careless attitude towards such a tightly regulated market. If anything is clearly visible from the data, it is that the autorickshaw drivers have been denied several of the elementary protections or flexibilities against income erosion that are extended to most urban workers in India whose wages are regulated. This oversight only gets aggravated in an era of decontrolled fuel prices and high consumer price inflation. Indeed, it would be a far better recourse to study and integrate autorickshaws as a more planned and legitimate option in the transportation mix of any city, not only to ensure flexible and trouble-free options for the public but also for the autorickshaw drivers, their families and ancillary industries.