The Transport Department will soon crack the whip on taxi aggregators as the State government is drafting a set of guidelines aimed at reigning in aggregators.
Over the past few months, taxi aggregators have been facing pressure from all quarters over surge pricing, non-availability of cabs, non-functional tracking systems as well as non-compliance with rules. Though many of their offices have been raided and they have been warned of action if they do not follow rules, the aggregators have continued doing business the usual way.
This has prompted the State government to take action instead of waiting for a legislation applicable across the nation to regulate app-based aggregators. “These guidelines will be introduced in the next 20 days and will deal with a wide range of issues, including surge pricing,” said Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy.
Meanwhile, cab users are forced to shell out up to 2.8 times the normal fare on days when the aggregators decide to introduce surge pricing. In some extreme cases, this can mean a fare of Rs. 258 for a distance of 2.14 km.
In March, the Transport Department had raided the offices of Ola and asked them to refrain from charging 1.5 times the fare for customers during the peak hours. Since then, the surge pricing model has gone up to 2.8 times the fare and the concept of ride time, where the customer pays a separate fee for sitting in the car itself has also been introduced.
