Nasscom opposes Karnataka govt’s new taxi fare structure, bats for dynamic pricing

Amonth after the Karnataka government announced uniform fares for cabs operating under aggregator rules by firms like Ola and Uber, as well as for city taxis (non-app-based city taxis), industry representative body Nasscom has written to the Government to review the structure.

With the latest notification, this is no longer possible because of the mandatory flat fares… Further, given the flat fares, the earlier practice of app-based taxi aggregators to cover the service fee/commission within the fare brackets, is also not possible anymore,” Nasscom’s Deputy Manager, Public Policy and Government Affairs, Garima P has written in a letter on Tuesday.

According to the new fare structure announced by the state government on February 3, taxi vehicles are categorised into three classes based on the cost of the vehicle. Cab aggregators aren’t allowed to collect surge pricing from passengers.

The order further stated that waiting charges for passengers will be free for the first five minutes, and after that, it will be Rs 1 for every minute. Additionally, 5 percent GST will be collected by theapp-based aggregators, and toll charges can be collected from passengers.