Shell out more for hiring taxi, auto; UT revises rates

People will have to pay more for hiring taxis and autos in the city from today. After more than three years, the UT Administration has revised the fares chargeable for travel by taxis, autos as well as bike taxis. The last revision was made on March 31, 2022.

For the first time, the Administration has merged the fares charged by AC and non-AC taxis. Also, the authorities have allowed the operators to charge flat fare for the first 3 km. Now, passengers have to pay for 3 km even if they travel for just 1 km, instead of earlier fare charged on per kilometre basis.

Under the revised rates, a local AC or non-AC taxi/cab with 4+1 seating or below) will now charge Rs 90 for the first 3 km and Rs 25 for each subsequent km. Earlier, the fare for the AC taxi was Rs 34 per km, and non-AC taxi was Rs 25 for the first km and Rs 19 for each subsequent km.

Similarly, AC or non-AC taxi/cab with 6+1 seating will charge Rs 100 for the first 3 km and Rs 28 for each subsequent km.

The revised charges auto-rickshaw, including e-rickshaws, are Rs 50 for the first 3 km and Rs 13 for each subsequent km. Earlier, an auto-rickshaw was charging Rs 19 for the first km and Rs 9 for each subsequent km.

As for bike taxis, the fare has been fixed at Rs 30 for the first 3 km and Rs 9 for the each subsequent km.

Speaking about the increase, however, Ramesh Ahuja, president of the taxi union, said taxi operators will not benefit from the new rates as they would hardly be able use the revised rates due to competition in the market.

The Tricity Cab Association welcomed the new fares, saying that the new rates should not be limited to paperwork and the Administration should implement them on the ground.

Association president Vikram Singh said, “The new rates will definitely improve transparency and benefit both passengers and drivers.” The stakeholders said the key lies in authorities ensuring that the policy is followed by all taxi operators as mobile application-based aggregator companies have in the past ignored such rules. “This time, the State Transport Authority should implement these orders on the ground,” Singh said, thanking authority and the UT Administration for taking concrete steps on issue that had pending for years.

Meanwhile, Rajdeep Singh, who regularly travels by cab from Zirakpur to his office in Sector 17, Chandigarh, said the people were already reeling under the ever-growing inflation and the revision of rates would put an extra burden on their pockets.

Echoing the sentiment, Mandeep Kaur, a resident of Sector 43, who travels intracity by taxi, said the UT Administration should have taken into account the extra burden that will befall on commuters before increasing the fares.

Chandigarh