This electronic meter won't run faster than taxi, you bet

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government’s proposal to install electronic tariff meters on taxis and autorickshaws in Mumbai would be implemented soon.

This week, the state’s transport ministry would issue a notification making it mandatory for taxis and autorickshaws to install electronic meters. At present, taxis and autorickshaws charge fare as calculated by the mechanical meters which can be easily tampered with.

Minister of state for transport Raje Dharmarao Atram told ET that the notification would facilitate a shift from manual tariff meters to the electronic ones across the urban areas in Maharashtra in three phases over a period of two years.

The first phase, however, would cover only Mumbai, its western and central suburbs, and Thane city, Mr Atram said. Maharashtra cabinet has already cleared the proposal. During the monsoon session of the state legislature, Mr Atram had told the House about the government’s plan to introduce electronic meters.

The notification would make necessary amendments to the relevant sections of the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Act, Mr Atram said.

“It has been pending for a long time now. The law and judiciary department is working on the necessary amendments to the existing laws,” Mr Atram said. The island city has around 55,000 taxis plying on its roads. These will be covered in the first phase along with more than 1.1 lakh autorickshaws in the island city, suburbs, and in Thane.

“Complaints of arbitrary fare, doctored meters, and fake tariff cards which are used to calculate the fare, galore in the city. For a city like Mumbai which thrives of a reasonably efficient public transport system, there has to be a uniform mechanism to charge fare.

Government cannot be a mute spectator to cabs and autorickshaws fleecing commuters,” Mr Atram said. He pointed out that in the absence of a non-tamperable tariff meter, a passenger who hires a cab at the domestic airport for Nariman Point or Mantralaya has to cough up anything between Rs 800 to 1200.

“Cabs presume that a person who can afford air travel would shell out any sum they ask for as fare. Even if a passenger argues about the fare, cabs can always flash fake tariff cards which are tailor-made to justify arbitrary fare. But an electronic meter would directly show the fare on paper and passengers would also get a receipt for payment,” Mr Atram said.

The proposal to introduce electronic meters on cabbies and autorickshaws is linked to the fleet tax scheme being worked out by the transport department to modernise this long-neglected section of public transport, sources said.

Under the fleet taxi scheme, the transport department would give licences to fleet operators — maximum four in Mumbai — to ply passenger cars with comforts like AC, which would also have electronic meters. Electronic meters on cars under this scheme would be credit card compatible as well.

A major glitch, however, in introducing electronic meters is the unavailability of adequate stock of the gadget. “That is why the implementation would be in phases. Our informal interaction with companies manufacturing or supplying such meters revealed that it would take at least three months to cover 55,000 taxis,” Mr Atram said.

Implementation would be in keeping with supply,” Mr Atram said. An electronic meter would cost between Rs 8,000-10,000/- and cabbies or autorickshaws would have to purchase them from the suppliers authorised by the transport ministry.