The Bombay High Court on Monday sought an explanation from the Maharashtra government on the calculation method used by it to arrive at the taxi and auto rickshaw fare hike amount. A PIL has challenged the hike in fares of autos and taxis announced in the city.
On Monday the petitioners challenged the calculation method used by the State to arrive at the figure of hike. They claimed that the transport authority had considered the wrong figures while declaring the hike.
Petitioners' advocate Uday Warunjikar said that in the past, the Hakim committee had recommended basic fare of Rs 15 for autos, and Rs 19 for taxis. But the State government had announced Rs 14 and Rs 18 basic fare respectively.
Recently, when the transport authority calculated new fare hike, they used the fares announced by Hakim committee, and not the State government, the petitioner claimed.
The court thereafter observed that if the figures used by the transport authority were wrong, it may have to do the whole exercise afresh again.
The Advocate General sought time from the court to go through the records. He said he would file a fresh affidavit, if required, on it.
The court will now hear the matter on August 4.
