A little over a month has passed since the State government issued a notification revamping the fare structure for taxis operated by app-based aggregators, but there has been little change on the ground.
The January 10 notification had mentioned that the new fare structure was “with immediate effect”. With taxi aggregators continuing to defy the rules, the Transport Department has now decided to call a meeting with stakeholders to drive home the point.
“I don’t know why they (aggregators) are delaying implementing the fare structure. We will take action,” said Transport Commissioner B. Dayananda, and added that a week after the notification, aggregators had sought “some time” to comply with the rules.
The government for the first time had introduced four fare structures depending on cost of the vehicles and set the minimum and maximum fare for each category of vehicles. According to department officials, this was done keeping in mind the interest of drivers, aggregators and passengers. However, passengers are still debating if the new fares will benefit them.
Several people who use aggregator taxi service regularly feel that the fixing a maximum fare make their commute more expensive during peak hours when demand rises. The maximum fare fixed per kilometre ranges from ₹24 to ₹45, depending on the cost of the car. Minimum fares are in the ₹12 to ₹20 per km range.
Drivers, too, remain cautious. “We feel that the new fare structure will not do any good for us. During peak hours, aggregators may charge the maximum rate to commuters but they may not pass on the benefit to us,” said Mohan K., who works with a city-based aggregator. “The department has never shown any control over aggregators, and this is becoming evident as time passes. As of now, companies continue to follow their fare structure with ride-time charge and other fares,” he added.
Another driver, Anil, pointed out that they get very little by way of incentives. “I have to complete 60 trips in four days to get an incentive of ₹2,000. I had hoped that the fixing of fares would help us, but it looks like aggregators are not interested in following the rules,” he said.
Authorities of both Ola and Uber were not available for comment.
