B’luru: Surya urges CM to regulate base fare charged by auto-rickshaw aggregators

Team Udayavani, Oct 7, 2022, 12:05 PM IST

PTI photo

Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya on Thursday urged Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to regulate the minimum fare charged by auto-rickshaw aggregators in the city.

Surya wrote a letter to the chief minister pointing out that various aggregators were charging Rs 100 as the minimum auto fare which is thrice the base fare notified by the state Transport department.

Taking to Twitter, Surya also shared the government notification dated Nov 6, 2021, which has fixed Rs 30 as the base fare for auto-rickshaws for the first two kilometers and Rs 15 for every subsequent kilometer. Similarly, waiting charge is not applicable for the first 5 minutes whereafter Rs 5 charges are levied for every 15 minutes of waiting.

Auto rickshaw are backbone of first & last-mile connectivity in Bengaluru.

We received many complaints recently regarding tech aggregators charging ₹100 as minimum charge against the fixed limit of ₹30.

Requested CM Sri @BSBommai & Sri @sriramulubjp to take necessary action. pic.twitter.com/37h2elgWNj

— Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) October 6, 2022

Surya in his letter said that all ride-hailing firms must charge fares in accordance with the government fixed limits. Further, he wrote that the exorbitant charges of auto aggregators would alter the market dynamics of city auto rickshaws and regular auto drivers will be compelled to ply by the same rate.

Surya said that an increase in auto fares will make it unaffordable to the majority of the public and this in turn will also have a cascading effect on other public transport modes.