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Journalism of Courage
The Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO) is to issue a notice to Ola and Uber cab services if they do not implement the new fares of air-conditioned taxis (cool cabs). But with Ola and Uber not toeing the line, Cool Cab drivers in Pune have warned of a protest in front of RTO office, along with an indefinite shutdown of service from February 20 in this regard.
Over a month has passed since Pune RTO announced revised Cool Cab AC taxi-fares based on Khatua Committee’s recommendations, but aggregators have not followed the directives. The proposal was approved at the Regional Transport Authorities (RTA) meeting last December, chaired by Collector Rajesh Deshmukh.
After the meeting, on January 3, RTO announced hiked fares for taxis operating under its jurisdiction. Drivers and other stakeholders in the city gave the taxi companies a month to fall in line with the new rules, along with a warning.
Taxi unions had repeatedly protested for fares of air-conditioned (AC) taxis to be hiked, after which the fare was decided at Rs 31 for the first 1.5 km for non-AC taxis (yellow and black), and Rs 21 for every subsequent km. As for AC taxis (Cool Cabs), the fare was set at Rs 37 for the first 1.5 km, and Rs 25 for each following km.
“We met both companies in the presence of transport authorities. After the collector’s decision, we expressed satisfaction with the fares set by authorities, and gave them time to implement the new fares. But they have still not done it, so we have decided to hold a one-day protest next week. We will also shut down our services until the cab aggregators implement the new fares,” said Keshav Kshirsagar, spokesperson of Indian Gig Workers Forum (IGF).
As per drivers, Ola and Uber are operating without licence, but no action has been taken against them.
In response, Sanjeev Bhor, Pune Regional Transport Officer, said they have asked the companies to implement finalised fares in yesterday’s meeting. “After the meeting, both companies sought clarification on which types of cabs would need to revise their fares. The final fares are applicable to basic vehicles, such as hatchback, and not sedans,” he said.
Bhor also said that currently there is no such state’s aggregator policy, and so everyone should follow the central aggregator policy. The central policy states in its rule no 13 (3) that companies can charge 50 per cent below in off-peak hours, and 50 per cent above in peak hours of the base rate.
