The State government has agreed in principle to increase the fares of autorickshaws and taxis as recommended by the M. Ramachandran Committee.
Transport and Electricity Minister Aryadan Mohammed told a joint action council of trade unions of autorickshaw and taxi drivers about the government’s intention at a meeting convened by him in the Secretariat on Thursday.
The minimum fare of autorickshaws will go up from Rs.12 to Rs.15 and that of taxis from Rs.60 to Rs.100. For every subsequent km, the autorickshaw fare will be Rs.8, compared with the Rs.7 now, and Rs.10 (Rs.8) for taxis. Air-conditioned taxis will charge 10 per cent more. During the talks, the representatives of the council demanded that the minimum fares for autorickshaws and taxis should be charged only for one km.
The Minister said the demand would be placed before the Cabinet on November 10 for ratification. Following the announcement, the council called off its plan for an autorickshaw and taxi strike in the State from October 31. It had been demanding an increasing in the fares following the increase in the prices of fuel.
Keywords: autorickshaw fare hike, Kerala government
In Trivandrum, the rate charged by the taxi starts from the moment the
driver starts his engine from wherever he is to the pickup location.
The customer is charged not for his trip from the pickup location to
the drop location. The hours are also not calculated when the customer
starts the trip, but when the driver starts his trip to the pickup
location. Can the authorities look into the ridiculous logic?
Can the authorities enforce the rule that the autorickshaw drivers
will not charge more than the meter charge. Can they stop the practice
of certain autowallahs from locations such as Peroorkada in the city
from demanding extra fare after 6 pm and not running the meters? Can
the unions also look into this?
The joint action council of trade unions was going to do a strike to
get these new rates, reported in this news? Whom are they kidding?
For the distance that would cost Rs 231 in an A/C taxi cab as per the
new rates in the report, the actual prepaid cab charge was already Rs
350, at the beginning of this year. I don't understand what the
minister and union are fixing the rates for. The actual fare paid by
the passengers are already far higher! Chennai is the only city where
Auto/Cab fares are not as per a running taximeter, but an arbitrary
amount dictated by the drivers!
I am not sure what this really means. This would be relevant only if
the drivers use their meters. I don't remember the last time the driver
turned the meter on! Maybe they should first with ensuring that the
drivers use their meters.
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