Uber, Ola Asked To Justify Fares As Cabbies Continue To Put Strike On Hold

Mumbai’s transport commissioner office reportedly sought explanation from app-based cab aggregators Ola, Uber and Rapido on how they determine their fares as the drivers’ unions have agreed to keep their strike on pause. 

Additional transport commissioner Bharat Kalaskar told TOI that the department had separate meetings with the union leaders and the officials of the cab aggregator apps yesterday.

“We had two meetings on Tuesday with firm officials and union leaders. After discussions, we decided that Ola, Uber and Rapido should provide us with a written explanation on how they determine the app-based fares for cabs and rickshaws in various cities, and how much they differ from the RTO-approved rate,” Kalaskar told TOI. 

Last week cab drivers and auto drivers had gone for a strike which brought the public transport system of Mumbai and other cities of Maharashtra to a standstill. Commuters faced issues while booking cabs and autos. 

The strike started on July 9 and went on for three days. However, on Saturday the drivers paused their strike till Tuesday to give time to the state authorities to look into their demands. 

The demands of the drivers include rationalisation of cab fares, bringing it at par with the conventional cabs, prohibition of bike taxis, a cap on the permits to cabs and auto rickshaws, formation of a welfare board for drivers of app-based cabs and enactment of the ‘Maharashtra Gig Workers’ Act’ on the lines of other states. 

If the RTO-approved fare structure is adopted by the cab aggregators, it will likely increase the fare prices. According to the RTO-approved rates, cab fare for the first three km in Pune is charged at INR 75 and INR 25 is charged for every subsequent km. Accordingly as per the RTO-approved rates, a 10 km cab ride would cost about INR 250 while an average cab fare for the same costs INR 175 on Uber. 

The conflict between the drivers and the transport authorities comes at a time when Maharashtra is planning to bring in the new Aggregator Cabs Policy 2025 which is set to bring some reforms to ride-hailing services in the state.

According to the new policy, drivers will be fined for cancelling rides, the fare structure will be monitored by transport authorities and ride-hailing apps will not be able to charge 1.5 times more than the regular fare structure for a ride during peak hours.

The new policy also mandates welfare of the drivers providing accidental insurance. 

On the other hand, the state government also took legal actions against bike taxis registering cases against 123 bike taxi drivers operating in the region.