Taxi, auto-rickshaw charges likely to increase in Delhi soon

New Delhi, July 02: Auto-rickshaw and taxi fares in the national capital are soon going to see a hike as the proposal to increase the three-wheeler charges for every kilometre will go up by Rs 1.50 while the base fare for travelling in taxis will rise by Rs 15, officials said on Friday.

The proposal to hike the fares has been approved in principle and is likely to come up for cabinet approval in the next meeting, they added.

Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot confirmed that the government is planning to increase the fares.

According to the officials, the fare hike has been necessitated due to the rise in CNG prices. The government had formed a 13-member fare revision committee in April.

The committee had recommended a Re 1 hike per kilometre for three-wheelers and a hike of up to 60 per cent in fare of taxis. It had submitted its report in May.

The officials said the meter down charges will be revised to Rs 30 instead of the earlier base price of Rs 25. After this every kilometre will be charged at Rs 11 instead of Rs 9.50.

Similarly for taxis, the meter down charges for taxis will be Rs 40 instead of Rs 25. For non-AC taxis, the fare for every kilometre will be Rs 17 per kilometre instead of Rs 14 while for AC taxis, the fare will be revised to Rs 20 from Rs 16 per kilometre.

App-based aggregators had already hiked their prices while there had been no revision in the prices of auto-rickshaws and taxis, whose fares are regulated by the government.

Sources said that the taxi fares were last revised in 2013 and the committee took into consideration the hike in CNG prices over these nine years and the increase in prices of spare parts of the vehicles.

"Based on the recommendations, we will be hiking the fares after Cabinet approval," Gahlot told PTI.

The price of CNG has risen to Rs 75.61 per kg within a span of over six months. It was Rs 52.04 on January 1 this year.

The members of the committee had travelled in auto-rickshaws and taxis to gauge the mood of the drivers before making its recommendations.

According to the officials, the committee had also considered other factors like consumer price index, competition with cab aggregators while making its recommendations.