Your auto, taxi ride may get dearer

Travelling by autorickshaw or taxi may soon cost you more. The state government is contemplating decreasing the minimum fare distance from 1.6km to 1km.

Travelling by autorickshaw or taxi may soon cost you more. The state government is contemplating decreasing the minimum fare distance from 1.6km to 1km.

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Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan in a written reply to the state assembly on Monday said the proposal was under consideration and was discussed in a meeting that took place on February 5.

The issue was raised by Nationalist Congress Party legislator Jitendra Awhad.

Hindustan Times was the first to report about the reduction in distance slabs, on March 17.

This proposal will affect people who travel long distances. However, it will ensure that all taxis and rickshaws shift to electronic meters.

“In the meeting held on February 5, the regional transport authority and the Greater Mumbai region authority discussed the issue of decreasing the distance in the present slabs from 1.6km to 1km,” Chavan said.

“Meetings will be held with the taxi and autorickshaw unions and then the decision on how the meter calibrations will be done will be taken. All the data will be compiled and placed in the next transport meeting for consideration,” he said in his reply.

State transport commissioner Dilip Jadhav said the issue was now pending with the chief minister, who is also the transport minister of Maharashtra.

“Right now the next date for the meeting has not been fixed. Also the decision is still pending so the revision will happen only after that,” Jadhav said.
(Inputs from Shashank Rao)