RailEnquiry

There might be respite in store for commuters who board rickshaws and taxis from the airport and railway termini stands — the Hakim Committee has recommended a substantial reduction in their fares in their report. The decrease in fares suggested is significant enough to offset any minor increase in service charges, which has also been suggested.Explaining the reduction, PMA Hakim has stated in the report, “The additional fares payable are not uniform in respect of the services operated from the two airports and need some rationalisation. There are too many rates with no particular pattern in their change. Also, when the percentage of additional charge is lowered with a higher distance, not providing a minimum payment leads to an anomalous situation where passengers travelling longer distances pay lesser than those travelling shorter distances.” Due to this, he has created new distance slabs with percentage increase in their fares.The committee observed that the existing service charges payable are Rs10 for ordinary taxis and Rs15 for the cool cabs operated from the airports. “It is proposed to increase this to Rs20 for the services from airports and to Rs 15 for the services from other places like railway stations,” it said.