Amid the tussle between Bengaluru’s auto rickshaw drivers’ union and app-based aggregators such as Uber and Ola, the Karnataka Transport Department has released complaint numbers for passengers if they overcharge them.
On Friday, the Karnataka High Court allowed the cab aggregators to run auto-rickshaw services with an excess fare of 10% of the government’s fixed cap prices in the state. Ola and Uber challenged the state government’s service ban decision on taxi apps.
Now, the cab aggregators slashed the minimum auto-rickshaw fares to ₹35 and the Karnataka transport department has asked people to report to the authority if they charge more than 10% of framed prices.
In a report by the Hindustan Times, Livemint’s sister publication the Karnataka Transport Department has received numerous complaints from passengers alleging that the app-based aggregators were charging more.
The department said, “It will be contempt of court if taxi apps charge more than 10% of the government fixed cap. We will submit all the complaints to the court in the next hearing”.
The transport department has also put out a Whatsapp number to report the overcharging.
Recently, the Bengaluru Police had also tweeted the complaint numbers for customers if auto drivers demand high fares. The Bengaluru police wrote that if a user complained of an auto driver demanding a high fare, a post on the official Twitter handle read, “You can call our automated IVRS to book complaints. Please call 080-22868550 / 22868444 and mention the registration number of the auto-rickshaw, place, time, and date. Kindly use our IVRS to book complaints against autos Offenses. (sic)”
Starting from Saturday, Ola and Uber slashed the minimum auto fare to ₹35. Earlier, it used to be as high as ₹100. The Karnataka government is reportedly going to come up with a new framework of auto fares in the next 10 to 15 days.
Last year, the Karnataka government hiked the metre fares of auto drivers to rs 30 from ₹25 for the first two kilometers and the base price per every kilometer increased to rs 15 from ₹13.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru Auto Drivers’ Unions and the Welfare Associations’ Federation have continued their demand that the Karnataka Transport Department should blacklist illegal apps and white-board bike taxi services for allegedly exploiting the customers as well as drivers.
The auto union has urged the transport department to create its own transport app to provide citizen-friendly services under government guidelines.
The auto-rickshaw union has also blamed aggregator companies for “disrupting the transport services”.
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