The minimum autorickshaw fare in the city has been hiked by a rupee, after the plan was approved by the Maharashtra state government on Friday. “The minimum fare will now be `12, instead of the earlier `11.
The new fare will be in force from April 20 onwards,” said a state official from Mantralaya.
The proposal was moved by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Transport Authority (MMRTA).
The decision to increase the minimum fare by a rupee was taken after calculating the input costs as per the Hakim Committee Formula, wherein, cost of spare parts, tyres, fuel, inflation, etc. is taken into consideration and divided into per km.
As per the formula, the hike should be 44 paise, however it has been rounded off to 50 paise. As people often complain about shortage of change and 50 paise coins, the state decided to increase the fare by a rupee.
Despite the hike in tariff, the Mumbai Autorickshaw Men’s Union led by Sharad Rao, has still not called off their strike starting from April 16 in Mumbai.
The Union leader had demanded that the minimum fare be increased by five rupees to `16. However, the state officials did not agree to the hike.
On March 18, the state increased the minimum taxi fare in Mumbai from `16 to `17.
Reacting to the autorickshaw fare hike, Mr Rao said, “We will continue with our agitation as the hike is minimal and unacceptable. Our demand is to hike the fare by `5 and not `1.”