Autorickshaw drivers for Ola and Uber are concerned about the 5% convenience fee on each trip.

The government has set a minimum price of Rs 30 for autorickshaw rides, with an additional Rs 15 each additional kilometre. The fixed prices do not appear to be excessive on the surface, according to autorickshaw driver Thimmappa, but it is difficult to foresee how much these companies will charge customers.

The 5% convenience fee and Goods and Services Tax (GST) imposed on each autorickshaw ride requested by passengers has autorickshaw drivers affiliated with ride-hailing businesses and the Ola Uber Drivers and Owners’ Association (OUDOA) concerned.

On November 25, the Karnataka government gave the local transportation agencies instructions to add a 5% convenience fee and GST to each autorickshaw ride that customers take.

Tanveer Pasha, the president of OUDOA, accused the state government of failing to adequately present the case to the Karnataka High Court.

Pasha told a reporter that the government should have amended the Karnataka On-Demand Transportation Technology Aggregators’ Rules because they don’t have an autorickshaw provision.

“The court would have ordered the government to submit a modification to the rule,” he added. “If they (the transport department) had given the court correct information.”

Additionally, he said that the Regional Transport Authority, Bengaluru Urban district, whose chairman is the deputy commissioner of Bengaluru Urban district, was not considered by the transport department while the directive was being passed. According to the current system, an autorickshaw costs Rs 15 for each kilometre.

It would cost around 80 pesos to add the 5% convenience fee and GST to a kilometre of travel in Bengaluru, but Pasha was concerned that the aggregators may find a way to raise it.

The government has set a minimum price of Rs 30 for autorickshaw rides, with an additional Rs 15 each additional kilometre. The fixed prices do not appear to be excessive on the surface, according to autorickshaw driver Thimmappa, but it is difficult to foresee how much these companies will charge customers.

“Due to the outrageous prices charged by these Ola-Uber businesses, the government was forced to step in. We don’t know how they’ll take advantage of this most recent directive to drain people’s bank accounts “said Thimmappa.

Another autorickshaw driver, Venkatesh N, said it is too early to predict how fare prices will be set and how customers will be billed. A member of Ola Cabs’ public relations team declined to comment on the 5% convenience fee.

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