Ahead of meeting, many autorickshaw drivers in Bengaluru against fare hike

BENGALURU: Amid rising bus and Metro fares, a meeting of the Regional Transport Authority (RTA), chaired by the DCP-Traffic (East Division), is scheduled to be held on March 12 to discuss increase in autorickshaw fares. However, many autorickshaw drivers themselves seem to be opposed to hiking the fares, at least for now.

A survey conducted by autorickshaw drivers’ unions revealed that a section of them are not in favour of hiking the fares. With free bus travel for women and the Namma Metro, autorickshaw drivers are getting fewer customers. Added to this, the number of app-based autorickshaw services are also increasing and any fare increase under the circumstances could be counter-productive, they felt.

Raghu, the president of Peace Auto, said, “Earlier, there was no competition and whatever fares were fixed used to charged to customers. But now, there are app-based serivces offer cab services at Rs 6-10 per km whereas they are supposed to charge Rs 24 per km. If autorickshaw fares are hiked, more people will opt for taxis. Bike taxis are also cutting into our business”.

The autorickshaw drivers want uniform fares like in Delhi and Maharashtra and expressed apprehension about loss of earnings if fares are increased. The last time the auto fares were increased was in 2021.

Auto drivers’ associations had already requested the Bengaluru City district Deputy Commissioner, who is the chairman of the Regional Transport Authority, to increase the metered fares last year, and the association had sought an increase of Rs 5-10 per km. The minimum auto fare in Bengaluru is Rs 30 for the first 2 km, and the association is seeking to increase the minimum fare to Rs 40.