BENGALURU: Commuters will have to shell out a minimum fare of Rs 44 on small cabs and Rs 80 on luxurious taxis for the first four kilometers, Karnataka government notified on Wednesday. Until now aggregator taxis plying in the city were free to charge however low they wanted to, but the fixing of a minimum fare by the state government could shoot up the price for taxi services in the city.
Under the new fare scheme, a copy of which is available with Express, radio taxis, as defined in the Karnataka on-demand Transportation Technology Aggregators rules, will be able to charge fares based on the price of the vehicle. Four classes of taxis have been created with the least expensive cars being categorized in the D category while luxury cars costing more than Rs. 16 lakh have been put in the A category.
There will be a minimum fare chargeable for the first 4 kilometers for every class of taxi. This will range between Rs. 44 for D category vehicles to Rs. 80 for A category vehicles. Post this, there will be a minimum and maximum range that aggregators can set their fares between. The notification also provides for a free waiting period of 20 minutes with a charge of Rs. 10 for every 15 minutes of waiting after this time.
The setting of a minimum fare was a long-standing demand of drivers who were facing issues like predatory pricing which brought down drastically their earnings per month. However, for passengers, the new fares are significantly higher than the usual cab fares that commuters have gotten used to in Bengaluru. It remains to be seen how aggregators will change their pricing models accordingly.
Fare details
D class:
Taxis costing up to Rs.5 lakh
Minimum fare for first 4 kilometers: Rs 44
after 4 kilomers: Maximum Rs 22/km, Minimum Rs. 11/km
C class:
Taxis costing between Rs.5-10 lakh
Minimum fare for first 4 kilometers: Rs 52
after 4 kilomers: Maximum Rs 24/km, Minimum Rs. 12/km
B class:
Taxis costing between Rs.10-16 lakh
Minimum fare for first 4 kilometers: Rs 68
after 4 kilomers: Maximum Rs 34/km, Minimum Rs. 16/km
A class:
Taxis costing more than Rs.16 lakh
Minimum fare for first 4 kilometers: Rs 80
after 4 kilomers: Maximum Rs 45/km, Minimum Rs. 20/km