Mumbai: From March 1, pay Rs 3 more for your auto/taxi ride

Taxi and auto fares had not been hiked since 2015. File pic

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 Rs 3 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 minimum distance of 1.5 km will increase to Rs 25 from the existing Rs 22 and the same for auto rickshaws will be Rs 21 from the existing Rs 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 kilometre fare of taxis and autos will go up by Rs 2.09 and Rs 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 which 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 Rs 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 Rs 2 or less to make it practical."

Mumbai Automen's Union leader Shashank Sharad Rao said that despite the hike, their demand of compensation of Rs 10,000 per month for losses in the pandemic stayed. "The government should seriously consider our demands to bail out the auto industry. The fare hike will have both positive and negative impact on the business," he said.

Mumbai Taximen's Union leader Anthony Quadros said he hoped they will be able to recover some loss through the hike. "The last fare hike was in 2015. The Khatua and Hakim committee had recommended regular hikes, nevertheless what has come is welcome. Taxi users are more from the business community and traders so it may not actually affect the business majorly. Our demand on financial support to us by the government, still stands," he said.