West Bengal talks tough, to keep tabs on app-cab surge fare

KOLKATA: There is no room for any confusion. The state government has again clarified that the “dynamic fare” that the app cabs charge could not exceed 45% of the fare charged by AC metered taxis.


App-cab aggregators are allowed to levy additional waiting charges, service charges, night-time charges and GST, but any fee charged beyond these would be a violation of ‘authoritative price’, which both aggregators (Ola and Uber) have agreed upon, said a transport department officer. Moreover, aggregators will have to limit the total number of rides that would charge dynamic fares.

The state will keep a close watch on the app cabs and the fares they charge, so that deviations from the ‘mutual agreement’ can be flagged in the meeting between the aggregators and the transport department scheduled early next month. “We will

iron

out teething issues,” said an officer.

But the fares being charged by the aggregators don’t seem in tune with what the state has fixed as authoritative price. For instance, UberGo rider Gaurav Sinha paid Rs 652 for a 16km ride from Alipore to Belur Tiffin Bazar in

Howrah

on Saturday morning. The estimated time showed one hour and 13 minutes. “The fare showed it was not even close to the highest slab of authoritative price,” he said.

Sinha’s trip charge was broken down by the aggregators into various categories — Rs 85 as base fare (booking charge), Rs 113.4 as minimum fare, Rs 2.8 as per minute ride-time fee, Rs13.2 as per kilometre fee, and nothing for the estimated tolls and estimated surcharges. Besides, the trip had the provision of charging additional wait time fee of Rs 3.15 a minute if the driver had to wait for more than five minutes.

The app-cab operators alleged that the aggregators don’t pass on the maximum earning to the driver-partner or the operator. “For a trip from

airport

gate 3A to BM Birla Heart Research Centre in Alipore, the fare charged was Rs 875, but the operator’s share was only Rs 335,” said Indranil Banerjee of Joint Action Forum for App-Cab Operators’ Association.

“In fact, we are also writing to the government so that the aggregators maintain transparency on what they promise vis-à-vis what they deliver. There are other anomalies like a driver’s ID being blocked for no fault of his,” Banerjee added.