Taxi Drivers Are Out to Screw

Still in Pune, even though I've been strongly tempted by a Bombay buddy's lobbying to meet up with him in Goa. Goa's beaches represent the party capital of India. The day I go there, and it's coming soon I promise, expect infrequent posts. Goa is twelve hours away by bus, only a few hours away by plane. So naturally I would fly, except Pune's airport is closed for these two weeks for runway renovations. So I've got a sleeper bus trip coming up.
Speaking of transportation, I'll talk about taxis. Autorickshaws and taxis are everywhere in Indian cities. There must be millions of them. And each and every one of them will lie to your face about the fare. The more honest among them will try to arrange an excessively expensive fare relative to the government-mandated rate before the journey begins.
[ The power just went out, and everyone left the internet cafe I was in. I thought I lost the post up to this point, but blogger autosaves! I plugged in my phone to my laptop (whose battery is running out of power - are you noticing a theme here along with the last post?) and I'm back to finish things. ]
To pick up from where I left off: I can understand that the fixed rate may not be keeping up with free market pressures, but it sure feels like it's "pick on the foreigner" day everyday here. To illustrate, while in Bombay late at night I was riding from Bandra (chichi nightlife center) to Colaba (tourist center). I asked the driver for the card to translate the meter reading to government-mandated cost. He swore up and down he didn't have it. I said no problem, I'll just calculate it, having memorized the daytime (less expensive) transfer function (mostly linear). I counted out the cash and prepared to go. However, my result was 25% less than the government-mandated "after midnight" rate. All of the sudden the driver manages to produce the fare translation card from the glove compartment that calls out the midnight rate. I told him what a liar he was, smirked to myself, and paid the midnight rate minus a bit to disincentive in the future. He argued, but I couldn't care less and left. I used to hate the post-ride exchanges, but they're getting fun now.