New Delhi
Fares of gramin sewas, a four-wheeler shared transport vehicle mostly operating in outer parts of Delhi, will be doubled from next week, transport officials said on Saturday.
From the present rates of Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 15, the fare will go up to Rs 10, Rs 20 and Rs 25. The move comes ahead of the Assembly elections in Delhi scheduled early next year.
Three months ago, the Delhi government had announced a fare revision of auto-rickshaws, raising the per kilometre rates of the three-wheelers by at least 18.75%.
Delhi has 6,153 registered gramin sewas operating on 166 routes. These shared transport vehicles mostly operate in outer parts where bus and metro connectivity is poor and have a daily total ridership of about 80,000.
The decision to hike the fares was taken by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal after a meeting with transport minister Kailash Gahlot, commissioner Rajiv Verma and other senior officials of the department on Saturday afternoon. Representatives from unions of the para-transit modes were present.
“Chief minister Kejriwal made the announcement to the union members at his residence. He said operators of gramin sewas can now charge the revised rates,” a senior transport official said.
A union member said gramin sewa operators had been charging Rs 5 for rides up to 3km, Rs 10 for up to 7km and Rs 15 beyond 7km. These rates have remained unchanged since 2005, he said.
{{/usCountry}}A union member said gramin sewa operators had been charging Rs 5 for rides up to 3km, Rs 10 for up to 7km and Rs 15 beyond 7km. These rates have remained unchanged since 2005, he said.
{{/usCountry}}“It has been a long-pending demand of ours. We had demanded a maximum fare of Rs 30 but that the government settled at Rs 25. Nevertheless, we are happy the CM allowed the increase. All gramin sewas have been asked to implement the new rates from Tuesday,” said Sanjay Batla, spokesperson of the Gramin Sewa Sangharsh Samiti. Batla led the union delegation at Saturday’s meeting.
Batla said the union was consulting their legal team to ensure there are no loopholes in enforcing the revised rates. “With gramin sewas, there is a slight issue as they are contract carriage permit holders whereas the rates, both old and new, are based on state-carriage permit. It has been so for decades. So we are being doubly sure,” he said.
Transport officials said the gramin sewas were permitted to charge the new rates. “Vehicles that have contract carriage such as chartered buses, eco-friendly sewa, maxi cabs and gramin sewas are allowed to charge their own rates. So, there should not be any problem,” said an official.