The skyrocketing prices of tomatoes in the market have added to public’s headache amid shortage of supply of the fruit but also prompted people to come up with unique ideas to deal with the situation. Among the latest, an auto-rickshaw driver in Chandigarh grabbed headlines for giving away free tomatoes on the condition that people take up multiple rides on his auto.

Anil Kumar Chandigarh-based auto driver is giving 1 kg tomatoes to his customers for free, if they take strike a deal of five rides on his auto.

“Driving auto is my only source of income…by providing such services, I feel satisfied,” Anil was quoted as saying by India Today. Anil has been reportedly providing services through his source of income to social groups as well. India Today reported that since the past 12 years, he has been providing free rides to Indian Army soldiers as well as pregnant women, who require transportation to the hospitals.

Additionally, he has reportedly also announced ‘free’ rickshaw rides for five days in Chandigarh if India wins the upcoming cricket match with Pakistan in October, to be held in Gujarat.

‘Supply-demand cycle’

The rate of tomatoes has gone up substantially over the past two months, making some of the farmers millionaires, they claimed. The tomato rate is fluctuating between 150-160 in many cities across India. Heavy rains are being attributed as one of the reasons behind such high prices as crops have been destroyed, triggering supply shortage.

Apart from innovative ideas being used by many businesses to channel high demand for tomatoes into marketing their product; The situation has partly turned troublesome for farmers also. Several reports of the commodity being stolen have surfaced in the past days.

In Maharashtra, a case was filed Tuesday after two men were seen stealing around 90 kgs of tomatoes in a vegetable market of the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) on July 14. “At 2 am, while a security person was patrolling the market, he noticed two men struggling to carry a sack filled with tomatoes,” said Mahendra Mali, senior security officer. Many similar reports surfaced from other states such as Karnataka.

As per the experts, the consumers may continue to experience the impact of high grocery inflation till at least September. The situation is being blamed on last year’s lower output of essential staples and the recent heavy rains.