Bengaluru: From December 1, pay minimum fare of Rs 30 for auto

BENGALURU: After a gap of eight years, the Karnataka regional transport authority (RTA) has approved upward revision in auto rickshaw fares in Bengaluru with effect from December 1. The RTA is yet to issue an order in this regard.
At a meeting on Saturday, the RTA decided to increase the minimum fare from Rs 25 (for the first 1.9km) to Rs 30 (for 2km). For every additional kilometre, fare will go up from the current Rs 13 to Rs 15.
There’s a 50% premium on night rides (from 10pm to 5am). There’s no waiting charge for the first five minutes. It will be Rs 5 for every 15 minutes. No luggage charge for up to 20kg, and Rs 5 per kg beyond the threshold. A commuter can carry a maximum of 50kg on an auto ride.
TOI had carried a report, ‘minimum auto charge could go up to Rs 30’, on April 3.
Transport officials said they will give autorickshaw drivers time till February 2022 to recalibrate the meters. Besides, they must display the fare charts. Autorickshaw drivers were not pushing for a fare hike in the recent past fearing commuters could shift to app-based cabs. With cabs becoming expensive after the transport department fixed minimum and maximum rates, auto drivers felt the tariff revision was inevitable.
Officials said they revised the fares after taking into account the inflation, rise in LPG prices and maintenance cost. The price of an auto LPG refill has gone up from Rs 58.18 a litre in October to Rs 66 in November. In May 2020, it was Rs 32.51 a litre.
C Sampath, general secretary, Adarsha Auto Drivers’ Union, welcomed the fare revision and said they do not know how passengers, hit hard by Covid-induced financial losses, would react to new fares.
Many passengers said the transport department and traffic police must enforce the revised fares. “Many drivers have already been collecting Rs 30 minimum fare for the past few years,” said Sathish Kumar, a commuter from Koramangala.