Karnataka transport department has issued a notice to ride aggregators Ola, Uber and Rapido over high auto fares and asked for an explanation. 

This development comes after public complaints that these companies have been charging a minimum of ₹100 for auto rides. Transport Commissioner THM Kumar told The Hindu that the aggregators have violated rules by charging exorbitant fares. 

“Following complaints, notices have been issued and further action will be initiated. At present, the issue of the aggregators’ rules is pending before High Court. These aggregators are taking advantage of the situation and fleecing passengers. Here, the drivers are not at fault. Notices have been issued against aggregators as they are charging fares in violation of rules,” the commisioner added. 

Commenting on the development, a Rapido spokesperson said, “We haven’t increased our minimum fare to ₹100 in Bengaluru. During peak hours, dynamic surge kicks in to handle availability to customers.” Rapido charges ₹55 up to 3.5 km distance and 16.5 per km post 2 km and 1.5x night charges are levied between 10 pm-5 am. 

As of October 7 afternoon, booking a Rapido auto for a 1.4 km distance is costing the customer ₹79 after applying in-app discount of ₹4. For the same route, Ola auto is charging ₹78 fare which includes ₹36 ride fare and ₹40.73 total access fee and ₹1 pre-applied donation to the cause of cancer care. Similarly on Uber, the auto fare for 1.4km route is shown as ₹75.43 without any break up of the price. In 2021, the state authorities had fixed ₹30 as the base auto fare for the first 2 kilometres and ₹15 per km after that. 

Ola and Uber did not respond to businessline queries till the time of press. 

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