By Swastika Chowdhury
The Indian Gig Workers’ Front have released the new and revised cab fares which have created a lot of discontent among the commuters who also have come under a lot of confusion and shock after knowing of the prices. This has therefore created a lot of fiery conversations among the commuters and the drivers while the prices have drawn parallels to extortion.
The cab association from the Indian Gig Workers’ Front rolled out the revised cab fares on Tuesday, which are yet to be in alignment with the state’s yet-to-be unveiled cab aggregator policy. The association president, Keshav Kshirsagar had launched a fare calculator meter called onlymetere.in in May. The implementation of the new rates was to happen independently but it got delayed because of the policy’s formal rollout, Kshirsagar said. A Kondhawa resident Akash Shinde complained about how he had to pay according to the revised fare rates to return to his place from the Pune airport on Wednesday night. Even though the meter showed Rs. 380 he had to pay Rs. 430. He recollected this in a conversation with Times of India.
Another resident from Kothrud, Shreyas Apte in another conversation with the Times of India told how he had to pay Rs. 330 for a ride which he had booked for a sedan. According to the revised fare structure he was supposed to pay Rs. 280 which has initially shown Rs. 310 in the app. The driver however demanded him to pay Rs.370. Eventually he agreed upon Rs.330 as he too was running late.
One another resident from Sinhagad Road, Kaustav Lal said how the drivers were arbitrarily charging passengers based on their own calculations, and there was absolutely no authority overseeing this and taking any action. Speaking to the Times of India he said how this was just blatant overcharging.
People, however, can raise grievances in a given WhatsApp number associated with this issue and errant cab drivers will have action taken against them.