View of Mumbai's iconic Kaali Peeli taxi.
Credit: X/@mumbaiheritage
Mumbai: The fare of shared taxi services on the Nashik, Shirdi and Pune routes from Mumbai have been increased in the range of Rs 50 to Rs 200, transport department officials said.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Transport Authority (MMRTA), in its recent meeting held earlier this month, approved the fare revision of black-and-yellow non-AC taxis and blue-and-silver AC taxis on these three routes.
For the AC taxi travel, the passengers boarding from Mumbai will have to pay Rs 100 more for Nashik and Rs 200 more for Shirdi, while they will have to Rs 50 extra for both AC and non-AC taxi travel to Pune, they said.
The revised fare of AC taxis on the Mumbai-Nashik and the Mumbai-Shirdi routes will be Rs 575 and Rs 825 instead of the current Rs 475 and Rs 625 respectively. While the fare of the non-AC taxis on the Mumbai-Pune route will be Rs 500 instead of Rs 450, and for the AC taxis it will be Rs 575 instead of Rs 525.
As per the minutes of the meeting, the fare revision was approved considering the Maharashtra government appointment as per the report of Khatua panel, set up for revision of taxis fare, and the demands made by the union of cabbies, who are operating on the routes.
The authority has not announced the date for the implementation of this fare hike, but sources in the RTO said it is most likely to come into effect from the next month.
The authority, however, directed the RTOs to display the revised fare prominently at their taxi stands that are located at Dadar in Mumbai.
The Mumbai-Pune taxi route is 155 km long, while the Mumbai-Nashik and Mumbai-Shirdi are 175-km long and 265-km long respectively.
RTO officials said the MMRTA has revised the taxi fare on the Mumbai-Pune route in less than three years as earlier it had approved the taxi fare in August 2021. But the transport authority has not revised the taxi fare on the Mumbai-Nashik and Mumbai-Shirdi routes since September 2013.
As per the RTO officials, the Mumbai Taxi Association, one of the major taxi unions representing cabbies, was demanding a taxi fare revision on the Mumbai-Nashik route since December 2021, but the transport authority did not take any action. It, however, approved the demand for a fare revision on the Mumbai-Pune route in August 2021.
Apart from trains and Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (ST) buses, many passengers opt for shared cabs for traveling to Pune, Nashik and Shirdi. The cabbies, however, complain that their business has been severely affected due to private buses and taxis, and allege that the RTOs have turned a blind eye.
Despite repeated attempts, Bharat Kalaskar, RTO of Mumbai Central and secretary of MMRTA could not be reached for a comment.