Autorickshaw, taxi fares hiked by ₹3 from February 1
The decision to hike fares was taken due to the increased cost of living, vehicles, fuel, operational expenses, maintenance costs and other factors
MUMBAI: Your travel in a kaali-peeli auto rickshaw and taxi will get dearer from February 1. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Transport Authority (MMRTA) on January 23 cleared a proposal for a fare hike in auto rickshaws and taxis, which was announced on Friday. There are 4,50,000 auto rickshaws in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), of which 300,000 are in Mumbai itself, while the taxis on city roads are around 15,000.

As per the notification issued by the MMRTA—the government body comprising RTO and transport department officers—stated that the decision to hike fares was taken due to the increased cost of living, vehicles, fuel, operational expenses, maintenance costs and other factors. The minimum auto rickshaw fare will now be ₹26 from the current ₹23 and the minimum taxi fare will increase from ₹28 to ₹31. Cool Cab fare will also increase to ₹48 from the current ₹40.
The per-km rates after the first 1.5 km of the base fare are now higher. “The per-km fare of cabs was ₹18.66, which has increased to ₹20.66,” said Bharat Kalaskar, secretary, MMRTA. “The revised per-km rate of autos is ₹17.14 from the current ₹15.33. The Cool Cab revised per-km fare is ₹37.20 from the present ₹26.71. This will be applicable for all auto rickshaws and taxis running on CNG in MMR.”
The revised fares will be applicable to only those autos and taxis that have recalibrated their electronic meters, which operation has been mandated to begin from February 1 and go on till April 30. Sources in the transport department said that drivers and permit holders would be issued tariff cards which they can carry, but their validity would be until April 30 only.
“It will take at least six months to recalibrate so many auto rickshaws in MMR,” said Thampy Kurien, who heads the Mumbai Rickshawmen’s Union. “We will demand that the authorities give us at least six months for this process. Moreover, the e-meter companies too will need time to make the necessary changes.”
According to a member of the State Transport Authority, the proposal to round off the fare to the next rupee was struck down by the STA, resulting in the fare hike of taxis going down by ₹1. The hike in auto and taxi fares last happened on September 26, 2022, based on the formula and recommendations of the Khatua Committee in March 2020.
“This is a welcome move, as back in 2022, we had demanded a hike of ₹4 and got only ₹2,” said Shashank Sharad Rao, auto and taxi union leader. “Now a ₹3 hike will help auto and taxi drivers to improve their financial condition. We expect an increase of 6-7% in monthly earnings.”
MMRTA has approved new auto-taxi stands outside metro and railway stations. As per the notification, two stands for black and yellow taxis, nine shared-auto stands and 68 auto rickshaw stands have been approved in MMR.
Meanwhile MMRTA has struck down a Thane municipal corporation proposal. “The proposal was to reduce the fare of AC buses to the level of BEST buses in Mumbai,” said an official. “We have turned it down and asked the municipal corporation to reconsider other factors like consumer price index, cost of living, cost of vehicles, maintenance and then submit the proposal again. It has been asked to consider the population density and the ridership in the buses, as these figures differ in Thane and Mumbai.”
The hike in the fare of state transport buses by 15% will put an additional burden on the state government exchequer. “The fare hike will increase by 15% the subsidy amount paid by the government to MSRTC,” said an official. “The announcement of 50% concession to women passengers in MSRTC buses by the Shinde government has led to the state government paying ₹325 crore a month to MSRTC. The burden will now go up by at least by ₹40 crore a month.”
Another official said that the STA had also considered a different fare hike for autos, cabs and buses that operated on electricity. However, it was not implemented this time, as it might prove to be a deterrent in the push for electric vehicles.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Friday opposed the fare hike for ST buses. “It is not justified,” he said, adding sarcastically, “We hope that with the huge investment coming into Maharashtra, the state government will cancel the ST bus fare hike. We hope it will also take a decision to bring ST employees into the category of government employees.”
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