Ola, Uber, Rapido can charge double tickets during peak hours: Government sends green signal to taxi aggregators
Road Transport and Highway (MORTH) has revised the motor vehicle aggregation guidelines to allow cab aggregators like Ola and Uber to double the base fare during peak hours. This move could affect daily commuters, adding an earlier ticket cap of 1.5 times, making ride-hailing services more flexible in pricing during high demand periods.
Under the new rules, taxi companies are allowed to charge at least 50% of the base fare during off-peak hours, while during peak hours, they can charge up to twice the base fare.
These new rules are designed to balance user safety, driver benefits and business operations.
The base fare will be determined by the respective state governments, which will notify specific amounts of cars of different types or categories.
Therefore, states have been advised to adopt new guidelines within the next three months.
The government also clarified that the basic fare should cover a distance of up to 3 kilometers.
This is to compensate for the “dead mileage”, the distance used by the driver and the fuel reaching the passenger’s pick-up point.
However, unless the total driving distance is less than 3 km, passengers will not charge death miles separately.
For all rides, fares will be calculated based on the distance from the pick-up point to the drop point. The guide also prioritizes fair payments from drivers to ensure that those who own their own vehicle and work with the aggregator receive at least 80% of the total fare.
The aggregator can retain the remaining quantity. Payments to the driver can be resolved daily, weekly or biweekly according to an agreement with the company.
If the vehicle is owned by an aggregator but operated by a driver, the driver must obtain at least 60% of the collected fare, and the aggregator can keep the remaining fare.
The government has also formulated new rules for the cancellation. If the driver cancels the ride after accepting it without a legitimate reason, a 10% fine of the maximum fare will be charged.
The same rules apply to passengers who have no justifiable reasons to cancel their rides.
IANS input
