Cab unions hike fare, West Bengal says illegal move may attract penalty

Krishnendu Bandyopadhyay | TNN | Updated: Jul 16, 2020, 10:55 IST

The public vehicles department can slap a case of permit violation against cabbies for charging revised fare

KOLKATA: Taxi operators in the city on Wednesday declared unilateral fare revision from August 1, demanding passengers will have to pay Rs 50 for the first 2 km and for every subsequent kilometre, the charge will be Rs 25. The current approved fare is Rs 30 for the first 2 km and Rs 15 for every subsequent km.

Calling the move absurd, the transport department said if passengers were charged the “revised” rates, it might attract heavy penalty for permit violation. “The fare cannot be unilaterally decided by taxi operators. Fare revision falls under the purview of the government. Private operators can never decide fare on their own. Government decides fare revision after assessing a lot of factors, including affordability of commuters. If taxi fare become unaffordable, the trade will suffer a bigger crisis. Government thus strikes a balance and help the survival of trade as well,” said a transport department official.
But taxi operators claimed their were “forced to do this as the government remained unresponsive”. “The diesel price has been increasing. Operation costs have also gone up manifold because of a spike in insurance, road tax, permit fees, CF fees. We wrote to the transport minister and the principal secretary of transport several times, demanding fare revision. As we received no response, we decided to revise fare,” said Bimal Guha., president of Bengal Taxi Association (BTA) in presence of two more associations, Calcutta Taxi Association and West Bengal Drivers Welfare Association.
According to them, most cab operators charged more than metered fare. “Some are fleecing commuters, and we don’t want that. A formalisation is needed. No cabby can charge above what we fixed on Wednesday,” said Sanjb Roy of BTA.
Pointed out permit violation, taxi operators said motor vehicle inspectors and police can penalise a driver if a passenger lodges a complaint. “We are requesting commuters to pay us revised fare and in many cases, they give more ,” said a taxi operator.