Surge pricing by Ola, Uber to continue in Mumbai, panel gets more time to fix fares

Mumbai city news: The state government has extended the deadline of a four-member committee to submit its report by June 30

Mumbai

A source said that the panel had sought more time to finalise report in the wake of extended scope of work

Your wait for respite from surge pricing just got longer — by at least two months. Reason: The state government has extended the deadline of a four-member committee to submit its report by June 30, according to a government notification issued last week. The Khatua Committee has been tasked to review the fares of app-based aggregators, taxis and autorickshaws.

The state government appointed the panel led by BC Khatua in 2016, asking it to set maximum and minimum fares of taxis and autos. Later, the government extended the scope of the report and asked for fare suggestions for cabs and electric taxis which were recently introduced in Nagpur.

Although Khatua, a former IAS officer, did not respond to HT’s calls or messages, a source said that the panel had sought more time to finalise report in the wake of extended scope of work. The panel might need another couple of months to complete the report, said the source. The panel has already conducted meetings with various stakeholders, including passengers and drivers in different cities.

The state government approved the Maharashtra City Taxi Rules 2017 to regulate app-based cabs, which included controlling surge pricing. The effective implementation of the new rules would not be possible until the government capped the fare.

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