LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) on Thursday decided to charge Rs 10,000-12,000 to facilitate the travel of people from India Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi to Noida and Ghaziabad and other UP districts within 250 km range.
While the minimum cost of booking a UPSRTC taxi will be Rs 10,000 for sedans and Rs 12,000 for an SUV, the state transporter said.
According to UPSRTC, any additional distance, beyond the 250km, will incur additional charges. Moreover, the corporation’s buses will also be plied for a minimum of ₹1,000 per seat in the non-air-conditioned bus and for Rs 1,320 per seat in the air-conditioned bus for a distance of up to 100 km.
As per sources, a letter to this effect was issued to corporation’s regional managers in Noida and Ghaziabad by UPSRTC managing director Raj Shekhar on May 9. The regional managers were informed by the MD that they would have to make arrangements for the travel of residents brought back from foreign countries under the Vande Bharat Mission from Delhi airport to Noida and Ghaziabad and other nearby areas.
The letter reportedly mentioned that booking a taxi for up to 250 km from the airport would cost Rs 10,000. “Each additional kilometre would cost ₹40. Booking an SUV would cost Rs 12,000 for first 250km and Rs 50 for each additional kilometre,” it said. Besides the driver, only two persons can sit in the taxi,” it further stated.
With regard to buses, each will carry maximum of 26 persons in compliance of social distancing and the charges would double for any distance 101-200 km. At present, all people brought back from foreign countries are kept in 14-day quarantine in Delhi. Once they complete the quarantine period, the transport
department would facilitate their travel to Noida, Ghaziabad and other cities.
UPSRTC MD Dr Raj Shekhar said that Corporation was providing the facility to help the stranded travellers. However, on the high cost involved in availing the facility, he claimed that a three-member panel of officials was set up to decide on the fares as scores of complaints over the fares were coming. The
committee was asked to give its report within 24 hours. On the basis of the recommendations of the panel, decision on fares would be taken, said the MD.
However, later in the day, a clarification issued by the MD, UPSRTC, stated that the taxi services from IGI airport to Noida/Ghaziabad quarantine centres were completely free of cost, just like all other UPSRTC operations where it was plying buses to ferry migrant workers from railway stations to their respective home districts.
For the onward journey to their respective home districts from quarantine centres, they can avail the taxi service of UPSRTC the fare of which would be reviewed on the basis of the report given by three-member panel within 24 hours.