Cab fares set to spike as govt okays higher tariff

Fares for cabs and traditional taxis are likely to shoot up as the transport department will soon allow them to charge three times the current rates.

The maximum fare for a hatchback will be Rs 44 for four km. The Rs 44 is the base fare with the government set to allow Rs 22 as maxium fare for subsequent kilometres.

For the first time, the department has fixed a minimum fare in addition to the maximum rate. Cars have been classified into four categories as per their on road price and each have different maximum and minimum fares.

A notification to this effect will be out within a week, transport minister H M Revanna told DH. It will now be legal for cab-hailing services like Ola and Uber to charge much higher surge rates.

The last revision of fares was in June 2013, when the government had set a maximum fare of Rs 14.50 for hatchbacks and Rs 19.50 for sedans. Under the new regime, operators can charge anywhere between Rs 19 and Rs 44 for hatchbacks.

File moving

Revanna confirmed he had cleared the file with the hike proposals. "It is a long-pending demand that we have addressed," he told DH.

RTO sources said the fares had been fixed after a scientific assessment and several rounds of talks with commuters, conventional taxi operators and online cab aggregators.