Taxi, auto fares hiked in Mumbai

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government today 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.[caption id="attachment_481227" align="alignleft" width="380"] AFP[/caption]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).IANS