State again appoints Hakim committee to decide auto, taxi fares

The state government once again appointed a one-man committee of former union secretary PMA Hakim to decide the fare hike formula for taxis and autorickshaws.

The state government once again appointed a one-man committee of former union secretary PMA Hakim to decide the fare hike formula for taxis and autorickshaws.

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The Mumbai taximen's union has welcomed the move and also called off its proposed strike on May 2 over its fare hike demand.

However, leader of the Mumbai Autorickshawmen's Union Sharad Rao opposed the committee under Hakim and said they would extend their indefinite strike for the same reason. The Hakim committee will decide a new formula and parametres for fair and reasonable fare hike considering various cost elements for taxis and autos running on CNG, petrol and LPG. It will also recommend whether to adopt the metric system instead of the conventional mile system that continues since the British rule.

The new taxi and auto trade committee also gave recommendations about share-a-taxi and share-an-autorickshaw schemes. "These will be two separate committees for taxis and autos, headed by Hakim. It will speak with all stakeholders such as unions, passenger associations, the transport department and consumer associations. The report is expected in the next three months," said VN More, transport commissioner. The taximen's union welcomed this move. "Hakim is gentleman and we are confident that he will consider our problems and suggest a good formula that will be beneficial to the taxi trade," said AL Quadros, leader of the taxi union. He also called of its proposed strike from May 2 for the reason. The Mumbai Autorickshawmen's Union is unhappy. "We don't accept Hakim and the committee under his chairmanship. We could extend our strike by 10 days for this reason," Rao said.