Ola, Uber cabs: Pay Rs 150 more from Delhi airport terminal 1 soon

The Delhi airport will charge Rs 150 as entry fee on commercial vehicles but not to taxi services that have their counters at IGIA, including Kaali-Peelis.

Passengers leaving from Delhi airport’s Terminal 1 in an app-based cab may have to shell out Rs 150 extra for their ride home from next week.

The charge will double after eight minutes of waiting. The new rate will not be applicable to taxi services that have their counters at the Delhi airport, including Kaali-Peelis.

The Delhi airport operator has decided to levy Rs 150 as entry fee from March 22 on commercial vehicles coming to pick passengers from Indira Gandhi International Airport’s Terminal 1.

The charge will double after eight minutes of waiting. The new rate will not be applicable to taxi services that have their counters at the Delhi airport, including Kaali-Peelis.

Low-cost carriers such as Indigo, Spicejet and GoAir operate their domestic flights from Terminal 1 and around 20,000 passengers use it every day. The Delhi airport operator had started levying a similar charge at Terminal 3 in 2015.

“We have been witnessing growing incidents of unauthorized parking at the arrival area of Terminal 1 and long waiting time by commercial vehicles. Touting has also increased in the passenger area. This is a cause of serious inconvenience to passengers as well as a law and order situation,” said a spokesperson of Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL).

“In order to discourage unauthorized parking at forecourt area and to ensure safety of passengers and smooth movement of traffic, commercial vehicles will be charged Rs 150 for using the arrival forecourt,” the official added.

In 2015, when a similar charge was introduced at Terminal 3 it led to tiffs between passengers and drivers with the former refusing to pay the additional money. Later, Ola and Uber updated their mobile app and the charge became a part of their fare.

Some frequent flyers, however, said they were not happy with the move.

“What is the point of travelling with a low cost airline if you are charged Rs 150 extra for taking an app-based cab from the airport. I would rather take an auto or the Metro instead of paying the extra amount. The only problem is autos don’t go by meter and the Metro has not started running from T1. The authorities should first ensure connectivity before levying additional charges,” said Nikita Sharma, a frequent flyer.

Frequent fliers had developed a unique way to avoid the additional fee at T3. Instead of boarding a taxi from arrival, they used to go to the departure hall, which is two floors above, and book the cab from there.