Chandigarh, June 23 -- On a sweltering June afternoon, 63-year-old Kanwaljeet Singh tightly gripped his wife's hand as the couple made their way to the Chandigarh railway station. Their auto-rickshaw had dropped them nearly 100 metres away from the entrance to avoid paying the pick-and-drop charges. Panting and puffing, the elderly couple barely made it on time to catch their train to Amritsar.

They were not alone.

Another young family, with small children and three huge bags, also found themselves jostling the crowd, navigating the crumbling pavement and braving through the honking traffic.

The pick-and-drop charges were introduced after the contract of traffic maintenance was awarded to a private operator in 2024.

For personal vehic...