Draft Aggregator Rules-2024: Taxis running on battery, ethanol, methanol exempt from permit fee
Dushyant Singh Pundir
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 31
To regulate app-based taxis operating in the city, the UT Administration has unveiled draft Motor Vehicle Aggregator Rules 2024. According to the draft rules, the electric vehicles and those running on ethanol or methanol will be exempt from permit fee subject to commercial insurance of the vehicle by the aggregator company and fulfilment of any other formalities required.
Ride pooling
Under the draft rules, the aggregators may provide pooling facility to riders whose details and KYC are available, and who will be travelling along the same route but with varied stoppages. Female passengers will be provided the option of pooling only with women passengers.
Regulation of fares
The city taxi fare indexed by Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for the current year will be the base fare levied on customers. The base minimum fare will be for a minimum of 3 km to compensate for dead mileage, distance travelled and fuel utilised for picking up customers.
The aggregator shall be permitted to charge a fare 50% lower than the base fare and a maximum surge pricing of 1.5 times the base fare.
The UT may direct 2% of the total fare for each ride towards the state exchequer for providing amenities and conducting programmes on driver awareness, road safety workshops and pollution-control drives etc. Out of the remaining amount of the total fare, the driver shall get, at least, 80% and the rest will go to the aggregator. Any other taxes, GST or otherwise imposed by the Central/state government, shall be borne by the aggregator.
However, no passenger will be charged for dead mileage when the distance for availing of the ride is less than 3 km and the fare will be charged only from the point of boarding to the point of alighting.
What should they do to ensure passenger safety
It should be ensured that the GPS installed in a vehicle is functioning properly. The aggregator shall also ensure the installation of vehicle location tracking device (VLTD) in vehicles from other states for the safety of passengers. For the safety of women employees and drivers, the aggregator should introduce mechanisms to protect their rights, in compliance with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
Cancellation of ride
On the cancellation of a booking by a driver, a penalty of 10% of the total fare not exceeding ~100 shall be imposed, when such cancellations are made without valid reason. On the cancellation of a booking by a rider, a penalty of 10% of the total fare not exceeding ~100 will be imposed. The said amount shall be divided between the driver and the aggregator company in the same proportion.
