Cab rides in Bengaluru will cost more with Uber announcing on Tuesday, April 19, that it has increased trip fares to aid its driver-partners in the wake of spiralling fuel prices. Nitish Bhushan, head of central operations, Uber India and South Asia, in a statement, said: “We listen to feedback from drivers and understand that the current rise in fuel prices is causing concern. To help cushion drivers from the impact of this spike, we’ve raised fares in Bengaluru by 10%. Over the coming weeks, we will continue to track fuel price movements and will take further steps as needed. According to sources, Ola is also likely to revise fares.
Welcoming the move, one of the drivers said that the benefit should be passed on to the drivers and commission charged by the aggregators should be capped. Even though temperatures have been increasing in Bengaluru, cab drivers have reportedly been refusing to switch on the AC (air conditioner) citing hike in fuel prices.
An Uber official told Economic Times that fuel price movements will be tracked going forward and further steps will be taken if necessary. The fare price hike will reportedly be limited to the car categories, with auto rickshaw fares not being revised since they are dictated by states independently.
It may be noted that autorickshaw fares were increased in Bengaluru from December 1 last year, following demands by drivers as well as unions. According to the notification, the revised minimum fare for two kilometres is Rs 30 and every consecutive kilometre will cost an additional Rs 15. While waiting time is free for the first five minutes, Rs 5 will be charged for every additional 15 minutes. The notification also stated that an additional charge of half of the fare on the meter over and above the actual fare can be charged between 10 pm to 5 am.
Meanwhile, India's fuel sales fell in the first half of April as a record rise in prices in a short 16-day period dented demand, preliminary industry data showed on Saturday, April 16. Petrol sales fell almost 10 per cent in the first half of April when compared with the same period in the preceding month, while diesel demand slid 15.6 per cent.
State-owned oil firms on March 22 ended a 137-day hiatus in rate revision and began passing on a USD 30 per barrel increase in cost of raw material (crude oil) during that period when five states including Uttar Pradesh went to polls.
Petrol and diesel prices rose by Rs 10 per litre between March 22 and April 6 -- the highest ever increase during a 16-day period since fuel prices were deregulated two decades back.
With PTI inputs