Hyderabad auto fare panel proposes ₹30 minimum
Hyderabad : A government-appointed committee has recommended increasing the minimum auto-rickshaw fare in Telangana from ₹20 to ₹30 and the charge for every additional kilometre from ₹11 to ₹14.
The committee submitted its report to the government on September 3. The government is expected to take a final decision and officially notify the revised fares shortly.
The existing fares were last revised by the undivided Andhra Pradesh government on February 14, 2014. Auto-rickshaw unions had been demanding a revision, saying the existing fares were no longer sufficient.
If approved, the revision will come after about 12 years.
Committee weighs fuel, maintenance and driver costs
A committee constituted in 2022 had earlier recommended a minimum fare of ₹26 for the first 1.6 km and ₹15 for every subsequent kilometre. The government did not take a decision on that proposal.
The issue was revived after auto, cab and school van drivers’ unions called an indefinite strike from midnight on August 23. The unions withdrew the strike after officials assured them that proposals on fare revision would be submitted within 15 days.
The unions had sought an increase in the minimum fare to between ₹30 and ₹50.
The latest committee considered vehicle purchase costs, loans, depreciation, fuel prices, repairs, insurance, taxes, maintenance expenses, driver income and traffic conditions.
The report put the operating cost at ₹13.53 per revenue-earning kilometre and recommended rounding it off to ₹14.
The report also considered an auto price of ₹2.55 lakh, 70% utilisation, a monthly driver income of ₹25,000 and an average daily travel distance of 163.8 km.
Transport Commissioner K. Ilambarithi submitted the report to the government, according to the report cited in the supplied copy.
Waiting, luggage and night-time charges proposed
The committee has recommended the following tariff structure:
- Minimum fare for the first 1.6 km: ₹30
- Every subsequent kilometre: ₹14
- Waiting charge: 75 paise a minute
- Additional charges for luggage carried by passengers
- Briefcases and handbags below 60 cm by 40 cm to be exempt
- Maximum permissible luggage: 100 kg
- From 11pm to 5am, passengers may be charged 1.5 times the normal fare
The committee has also recommended that every auto-rickshaw display a tariff card.
Digital meters may get three months for reset
The transport department has asked the government to notify the revised fares under Section 67(1) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
It has recommended cancelling the 2014 Government Order, MS No. 20, and implementing the new tariff.
Once the new fares come into force, digital auto meters may be given three months to be reset to the revised tariff. During this period, every auto should display a tariff card showing both the old and new fares.
Proposed fares remain below several cities
The proposed ₹30 minimum fare is lower than Bengaluru’s according to the supplied comparison, while being on par with Kerala and Delhi.
The proposed ₹14 charge for every additional kilometre is lower than the corresponding fares cited for Kerala at ₹15, Mumbai at ₹17.14 and Bengaluru at ₹18.
Passengers could pay more for longer trips
Under the proposed tariff, the minimum fare would increase by ₹10.
A three-kilometre trip, which currently costs ₹35.40, would cost ₹49.60 under the proposed tariff.
For a five-kilometre trip, the fare would rise from ₹57.40 to ₹77.60.
For a 10-km trip, the fare would increase from ₹112.40 to ₹147.60.
For a 15-km trip, the fare would rise from ₹167.40 to ₹217.60.
Meter use remains a concern in Hyderabad
The supplied report points out that despite auto unions seeking a fare revision, metered fares are not widely being used by autos in the city.
Autos operating through Uber, Ola and Rapido generally collect fares determined by the aggregators rather than the government-notified meter tariff.
The report also says some independent autos have disconnected their meter connections and charge passengers amounts of their choosing. It notes that the transport department does not act against aggregator-linked autos because they fall outside its stated scope, while enforcement of metered fares on regular autos has also been weak.
As a result, passengers often pay fares without reference to the government-fixed tariff. The report says the proposed revision could also lead aggregator-linked services to raise their fares.
Committee studies fares in other cities
The committee studied auto fares in Kerala, Delhi, Karnataka, including Bengaluru, and Maharashtra, including Mumbai.
The report said insurance and other operating costs had increased along with fuel prices, prompting the recommendation for a fare revision.
The supplied copy ends with a partially garbled comparative table of fares in metropolitan cities. The legible figures have been retained above; unclear figures from the table have not been reconstructed.
