Fare hike approved for airport, Mumbai-Pune prepaid, AC and non-AC taxis

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Transport Authority (MMRTA) has approved fare revision for prepaid taxis operating at the international and domestic terminals of the airport here as well as for cabs plying on the Mumbai-Pune route, an official said on Friday.

As per the rates approved by MMRTA, the minimum fare for prepaid black-and-yellow taxis at the international terminal will be Rs 127 for the first six kilometres, while it will be Rs 85 for four kilometres for those operating at the domestic one, he said.

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Beyond the minimum distance, the fare will change every two kilometres for prepaid taxis operating out of the international and domestic terminals, with a panel headed by former IAS official RC Khatua laying down that cabbies will also get an incentive in the range of 10-25 per cent, which will keep reducing with the distance slabs.

"The per passenger revised fare for non-AC and AC cabs on the Mumbai-Pune route will be Rs 450 and Rs 525 respectively. The revision was decided at a recent MMRTA meeting and it will come into force with immediate effect. The fare revision for these segments were due as cab fare within Mumbai was increased on March 1," he informed.

The official informed that if passengers want the AC on in black-and-yellow taxis, they will have to pay 10 per cent higher fare than the per kilometre basic rate, whereas the fare will be 20 per cent higher than that of the black-and-yellow taxis for 'cool cabs' and AC taxis, the official said.

Passengers will also have to pay Rs 20 service charge, apart from the payable fare, the official said.

"The existing fare of Rs 350 per passenger for non-AC and Rs 425 for AC cabs on the Mumbai-Pune segment had remained unchanged since September, 2013. As many as 396 licenced cabs operate on the route, and unions have been demanding a fare hike since March last year due to rise in fuel and maintenance costs," he said.

Veteran taxi union leader Prem Singh said the fare revision was a welcome move.