Meet Millionaire Auto Anna

Aparna Banerji

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“I didn’t willingly choose this job but I tried to do the currently available job with willingness.” That’s how Annadurai aka Auto Anna begins his address to an auditorium packed with people. Introduced as the ‘Millionaire Auto Driver’, Annadurai prides himself on offering more facilities to his valued customers than they get on a luxury flight on some of the airlines. 

Starting off eight years ago, he is now a celebrity auto driver who has delivered inspirational addresses to corporates and is a sought-after entrepreneur whose customer service model is studied and emulated. For a man whose auto fares range from minimum Rs 10 to maximum Rs 25 – he rakes in an astounding monthly income of over a lakh. 

Starting off with earnings of Rs 900 to 1,000 per day, he now earns Rs 4,500 to 5,500 per day.   

In his charming Tamil-laden English accent, he says, “At the beginning stage, like all typical parents, my parents would say my son is crack, mental. Now, they also call me unique. Lots of schools, colleges now call me for programmes. My mom ends up crying at such occasions. Both parents are now very proud of their son.”

Nine newspapers and 40 magazines (often sourced to suit customers’ tastes), Free WiFi, Samsung Galaxy tab, iPad, Alexa, a refrigerator stacked with cool drinks, air cooler, snack box, charging points, various digital payment modes and routers for all networks are some of the features of his luxury auto. At his seventh Ted Talk at the DAVIET College in Jalandhar, he also introduces audience with another new feature of his auto—an artificial intelligence device that interacts with his customers and understands and decodes sign language for the specially abled customers. 

His all-inclusive humanitarian customer relationship model doesn’t leave out any group. He has free rides for teachers and nurses/teachers working for HIV positive patients; he runs special offers on Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Independence Day, Valentine’s Day, birthdays of Abdul Kalam Azad, CEOs of TCS, Infosys, IBM, Congizant among other companies and on his own birthday.

His Customer Relationship Development contest rewards customers taking his 5-question contest with Rs 1000 and he also rewards customers as per rides taken – Rs 250 for 20 rides, Rs 500 for 30 and Rs 1,000 for 40 rides. 

Auto Anna, who also has his own website and app, says “Just two months into auto driving and I started adding stuff little by little only. And slowly I was convinced that these services added to my income. Today, I award tokens to four to six customers monthly. I expect that GST would be applicable to me by 2020.” 

The CEO of Piaggio lauded him for his work and the state CM awarded him. Starting and ending all speeches with “Athithi Devo Bhava”, Anadurai says he believes he has ensured more respect to other auto wallahs, “Because customer expectation is equal to safety and respect. You respect them, they respect you more. When I started, I waited for customers now customers wait for me.” 

On whether anyone has tried to copy him, he says, “It’s a lot about the attitude with which we serve. While I have a repeated expenditure of Rs 40,000 monthly, I wait and eventually I earn Rs 1 lakh for the investment. But with some, they are not willing to make that kind of investment. I’ve seen, if I am providing good service to customer, everything is following me. I’m not following money – money is following me.” 

His eventual aspiration is to run his own auto cab service, “I want to bring a change for my society - that will be the real accomplishment. Right now I am driving auto. But about future, I don’t know. Two to three years later maybe there will be change. I eventually want to build a cab service.”