BENGALURU: The High Court on Monday issued a notice to the state government over the legality of a notification issued by the Transport Department classifying taxis based on their costs.
Hearing a public interest litigation filed by Mohammed Dastagir, a 65-year-old man from Udayagiri in Mysuru, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Hemant Chandangoudar issued the notice to the Secretary of the Transport Department, State Transport Authority, Regional Transport Authority and the Controller of Legal Metrology.
Seeking quashing of the notification dated March 3, 2018, the petitioner requested the court to direct the transport authorities to ensure that all the taxies plying on the public roads are fitted with properly calibrated fare meters as mandated under the Karnataka Motor Vehicles Rules.
“When all the autorickshaws in Bengaluru are fitted with digital fare meters, it is a mystery as to why the same rule is not enforced for taxies. The only inference that could be drawn is that the government wants to allow taxi aggregators and operators to have a field day at the cost of the travelling public”, the petitioner stated.
The notification was issued under the Motor Vehicles Act directing the regional transport authorities to fix minimum and maximum fares for taxies operating under aggregator rules and other taxies plying in the city. In the notification, the taxies are classified into A, B, C and D, depending on the cost of the vehicles.