WALKING AWAY
Ali pays 600 rupees a day to rent his rickshaw, filling up with gas four or five times a day, at 300 to 400 rupees a time.
As well as daily expenses, Ali also pays 11,000 rupees a month for his home and has two young children to support.
Adding to his problems, passengers, he said, do not want to pay higher fares.
“For a trip that should cost 200 or 250 rupees, they might only offer 80, 100, or 150 rupees,” Ali said.
Passenger Mohammad Ramzan said when a driver asked 500 rupees for a ride in the city, he offered half that. When the driver declined, he walked away, he said.
Inflation in Pakistan hit 9.6 per cent in October, and the central bank last week raised interest rates to 12 per cent, citing energy and wheat prices. Petrol hit a record 458 rupees a litre on Apr 3 and remains about 40 per cent above its pre-war price.
Back home at midday, Ali said his two boys still needed their lunch. He would go out again until late at night, he said, hoping to make enough to bring something for the children to eat at night.
