The cab unions operating from Mumbai airport on both domestic and international terminals are unhappy with the recent fare hike and have demanded further hike. They claim that for the past 6 years or more they hadn't seen a fare hike for the prepaid taxi operators until August this year, however they got a hike of mere Rs 8 since 2015.
On December 3, they wrote a letter to Transport minister Anil Parab about the same. This demand has been made even as the new Omicron variant of Corona virus has become a matter of concern for the authorities. In the letter written by the Mumbai Airport Taxi Riksha Union, they have requested the Maharashtra government to consider the hike in fares for prepaid taxis.
They have also sought revising the bracket of distance travelled by these prepaid taxis from Terminal 1 and 2 of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. Currently the base fare upto 4 kms is Rs 85, from 4.1-6 kms is Rs 122, 6.1-8 kms is Rs 163, 8.1-10 kms is Rs 203 so on and so forth. Back in 2015, the basic fares used to be Rs 77 for the first 4 kms.
“There is a need for further fare revision considering the rise in CNG and petrol/diesel prices. There are around 1500 black and yellow taxis running on prepaid routes from Mumbai airport on both domestic and international terminals,” said Kanhaiya Singh, president, Mumbai Airport Taxi Riksha Union.
According to the unions, there are around 1500 black and yellow taxis operating out of Mumbai airport. Out of these, around 700-900 taxis are parked at the international terminal and another 500-600 cabs ferry passengers arriving at domestic terminal. The unions' claim that over the last 2 months or so, business was normalizing however the situation could hit them considering the Omicron scare.
FPJ, on Monday had reported about the airport cab unions asking the authorities to sanitize their taxis and checking drivers as well. The Mumbai Airport has revised the rates for Rapid PCR tests to Rs 3900 from the earlier Rs 4500. Passengers have to undergo mandatory RT-PCR test on arrival and are required to wait for their test results before leaving or taking a connecting flight.
