Pune: Minimum Fare of Shared Rickshaws Doubles in Pimpri Chinchwad City
Pimpri, 24th February 2023: Passengers travel by share rickshaw on Dapodi to Nigdi route in Pimpri Chinchwad city often. If the distance is short, the rickshaw driver charges a minimum fare of Rs 10 per passenger. But now, a minimum fare of Rs 20 is being charged to the passengers. The arbitrariness of rickshaw drivers has increased after the closure of the Rapido taxi service.
The option of Rapido two-wheeler service was more beneficial than rickshaws for passengers. The rickshaw drivers union went to court against this service. Rapido had to shut down its bike taxi service following a court order. The six-seater rickshaws were also shown the way out.
There are hundreds of rickshaws between Nigdi to Dapodi. Earlier, these shared rickshaw drivers used to charge a minimum fare of Rs 10 for short distances. But the minimum fare has been doubled in the last two days. Hence, passengers have to pay Rs 20 for a very short distance.
Passengers are not aware that any organization has increased the minimum fare of share rickshaws. So there are disputes between rickshaw drivers and passengers while paying after getting off the rickshaw. While some passengers had to pay extra during the previous round, they were asking for money and then deciding to sit in the rickshaw.
However, as all the rickshaw drivers have increased the minimum fare for share rickshaws, the passengers noticed that no one is charging low rates.
Passengers have to go to the bus stop if they want to travel by bus. Also, while getting off, passengers are obliged to get off at the stop only. But the shared rickshaw stops allow passengers to get on and get off according to the passenger’s will. Due to this, many travellers prefer to share rickshaws for short journeys.
There are no metered rickshaws in Pimpri Chinchwad city. The passenger has to pay the fare that the rickshaw driver asks, which leads to a large amount of financial exploitation of the passengers. Despite this information, the rickshaw associations remain silent about this. Their silence is said to be tacit consent to the exploitation of passengers.
When asked why the shared rickshaw minimum fare was suddenly increased, the rickshaw drivers said that the CNG gas price has gone up to Rs 92. They also justified the fare hike by saying that due to the maintenance of rickshaws and the increase in the price of petrol, they could not afford to transport passengers at the old rates.
However, since none of the rickshaw driver-owners’ associations has released official information regarding this price increase, disputes are seen between rickshaw drivers and passengers.
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