No Surge Pricing For Ola, Uber As Karnataka Announces Uniform Fare For Taxis

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SUMMARY

The Karnataka transport department has fixed uniform fares for all taxis plying in the state, including metre-based taxis and app-based cab aggregators

Under the new regime, app-based cab aggregators like Ola, Uber, and Rapido will not be able to levy surge charges on customers during peak hours

Earlier, the state’s transport minister Ramalinga Reddy said the government was looking to launch its own app for auto and taxi drivers to take on app-based aggregators

In a move that will impact app-based cab aggregators like Ola, Uber, and Rapido, the Karnataka transport department has fixed uniform fares for all taxis plying in the state, including metre-based taxis.

Under the new regime, the app-based cab aggregators will not be able to levy surge charges to customers during peak hours.

The new fare structure has divided taxis into three categories based on the cost of the vehicles, according to news agency PTI.

Fare for vehicles priced under INR 10 Lakh has been set at INR 100 for a commute distance of up to 4 kilometres, with each kilometre post the range adding INR 24 to the total fare. Vehicles priced in the range of INR 10-15 Lakh can charge INR 115 for the first 4 kilometres, post which INR 28 will be added per kilometre.

Vehicles costing more than INR 15 Lakh will have a base fare of INR 130, with each kilometre post the first four adding INR 32 to the total fare.

As for the waiting time, cabs can charge INR 1 for every minute they wait for a customer after they have waited for five minutes.

For cabs booked between 12 AM to 6 AM, the aggregators can charge an extra 10%.

With this, the government has brought fares charged by independent cab operators as well app-based cab aggregators under one regime.

Commenting on the development, the secretary of the Karnataka State Transport Authority, L Hemantha Kumar, told Deccan Herald that cab aggregators were often charging passengers arbitrarily. They would charge one fare for lean hours and another for peak hours under the previous fare regime. The government has addressed this issue with the new fares, Kumar added.

While cab aggregators reportedly welcomed the transport department’s decision, this marks another chapter in the rift between cab aggregators and the state government. Earlier, the Karnataka government banned the auto services operated by Uber, Ola and Rapido.

In December last year, Karnataka transport minister Ramalinga Reddy said that the government was looking to launch its own app for auto and taxi drivers to take on the likes of Uber and Ola.

The app-based aggregators have also been under the radar of various other state governments, including Delhi and Maharashtra, for different reasons.