Despite pandemic losses and rising fuel prices, the Maharashtra government on Monday hiked the base fares of taxis and autos in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, by ₹3.
The fare hike, applicable for the entire Mumbai Metropolitan Region, will be effective from March 1.
Auto and taxi drivers have been given a period of three months to recalibrate meters. The new tariff will be uploaded on the RTO site and pasted in autos and taxis.
RTO officials said the fare for the minimum distance of 1.5 km will increase to ₹25 from the existing ₹22 and the same for auto-rickshaws will be ₹21 from the existing ₹18.
Justifying the fare hike, Transport Minister Anil Parab said it has been calculated as per the Khatua panel formula, and that it was not given to taxis and autos for the past six years and was due for a long time. The last fare hike of taxis and auto-rickshaws was implemented on June 1, 2015.
A Mumbai Metropolitan Region Transport Authority (MMRTA) member said for the first time the taxi and auto-rickshaw fare hike had been calculated as per the formula derived by the four-member Khatua panel, and hence the subsequent per kilometer fare of taxis and autos will go up by ₹2.09 and ₹2.01, respectively. There are 40,000 black yellow cabs and over 2 lakh autos.
Mumbai Grahak Panchayat (MGP) member Shirish Deshpande said what the government has done is a tariff shock. He said the MGP will request the government to moderate the hike to a scale that will not kill the taxi/auto trade. He said, “There was nothing given for over five years, and now suddenly the government is trying to make up by hiking fares by ₹3. For commuters today options are available. This will affect the business of autos and help the BEST. I think the government should climb down and bring the hike to ₹2 or less to make it practical.”
Surjitt Sahani
