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Auto Rickshaw
The Delhi government has approved a hike in auto-rickshaw and taxi fares in view of rising CNG prices in the national capital, according to an official statement on Friday. According to the revised fares, the metre down charge (minimum fare) for the initial 1.5 kilometre for auto-rickshaws has been increased from Rs 25 to Rs 30, while the per kilometre charge after metre down has been hiked from Rs 9.50 to Rs 11. For taxis, the per kilometre charge after metre down has been hiked from Rs 14 to Rs 17 for non-AC vehicles and from Rs 16 to Rs 20 for AC vehicles. The last revision in the auto-rickshaw fares happened in 2020 while that for taxi which includes black-and-yellow taxi, economy taxi and premium taxi happened nine years back in 2013. Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot had received many representations from the auto-rickshaw and taxi associations and unions on the issue of hike in fares.
The Karnataka High Court on Friday directed the state government to fix the fare for app-based auto-rickshaw hailing services within 15 days. The authorities last week ordered online aggregators like Uber, Rapido, and Ola to immediately stop their services for auto-rickshaws. The aggregators were also warned that action would be initiated if autos were found violating the order. The government had contended that auto-rickshaws were not covered under the license issued under the Karnataka On-Demand Transportation Technology Aggregator Rules in 2016. ANI Technologies Private Limited, which is offering service through Ola app, and Uber India Systems Private Limited had challenged this before the HC in two separate petitions. Justice M G S Kamal, who heard the petitions on Thursday, suggested that the authorities and the companies arrive at a compromise and make a common submission. The government had agreed to talk to the aggregators. On Friday, the HC directed that the government