By IANS,
Mumbai : The Maharashtra government Friday permitted hikes in autorickshaw and taxi fares with a caveat that the cabbies will provide enhanced services to the customers.
The move pre-empts a strike threatened by around 55,000 cabbies from Sunday midnight that would have crippled the country’s commercial capital.
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said in a statement that the new cab fares would be effective midnight of Wednesday-Thursday (Oct 10-11) in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
Accordingly, the commuters will have to shell out a minimum fare of Rs.19 (from existing Rs.17) for the regular non-air-conditioned taxis and Rs.23 (from existing Rs.21) for air-conditioned taxis.
Similarly, the new fare for the autorickshaws has gone up from Rs.12 to Rs.15 in Mumbai, and from Rs.15 to Rs.19 in Bhiwandi-Kalyan towns of Thane district where petrol auto-rickshaws ply.
The government has also permitted proportionate hikes in luggage and night service charges.
The cabbies had demanded a minimum fare of Rs.20 for the first mile (nearly 1.6 km).