Maharashtra Taxi Rules may make rides pricey

If the State Taxi Rules kick in in Maharashtra, taxi-aggregators such as Ola and Uber may raise fares.

According to sources, consumers may have to shell out about 20 per cent more for their taxi rides, especially through Ola or Uber, if the draft ‘State Taxi Rules’, which the Maharashtra government has rolled out to regulate taxis as well as aggregators are accepted.

For taxi-aggregators, the sticking points are a few points on surge pricing, fare capping and the revised permit rates for vehicles above and below 1400cc.

Ola COO Pranay Jivrajka told BusinessLine that “though the policy is inclusive, the permit fee at ₹2.64 lakh for vehicles with engine capacity of over 1400cc, will affect drivers. We have requested the government to re-look this matter.”

Though only about 5 per cent of vehicles plying in Maharashtra are above 1400 cc with the rest of smaller capacity or running on CNG, much of taxi-aggregators’ fleet are composed of sedans and SUVs over 1,400 cc.

“This is not going to benefit either the consumer or the taxi driver. Drivers buy vehicles on finance and that does not include the licence fee or any other permit charge. The driver has to shell this fee out from his pocket and to recover that amount, he will have to charge more,” Jivrajka said, adding that entrepreneurship among the driver would take a hit.

However, according to experts, the drivers do not have any control on the fares, which are a function of algorithms created by taxi aggregators keeping in mind the demand-supply scenario.

Jivrajka further added that the company has shared a few recommendations to the Maharashtra government including review of the permit cost, which Ola claims would add 30 per cent financial burden on drivers with vehicles above 1400cc.

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