BHOPAL: Taxis or cabs in Bhopal have become 15% costlier in the last one-and-a-half month. After the situation started normalising after the Corona 's third wave, the fares were raised to offset the hike in fuel prices during the Corona period and in the meanwhile, petrol and diesel prices started rising again.
"There has been an increase of 17% in taxi fares in one-and- a half months. The cars for which we charged Rs 10 per Km, we are now charging Rs 12 per Km, superior cars for which the charge was Rs 13 per Km is now available at Rs 15.20 per litre and luxury cars in place of Rs 15 per Km, we are now charging Rs 16.40 per Km," said Imran, a taxi operator.
"Like everything else, cabs have also become costlier. During the Covid period, they didn't have much business and now when the situation is normalising, the fares have been steeply raised. You do see a lot of taxis on the roads of Bhopal but they are all white and are attached with one government office or the other. Otherwise, cabs are not still not operating the way they used to in pre-Covid days. Once more remarkable change you must have seen is the fact that online taxi operators- Ola and Uber- who had captured the cab market considerably in pre-Covid days have largely disappeared from the scene", said Vikas Chauhan, a taxi driver.
Devendra Saxena, who runs Aditi Travels, when asked about variation in taxi rates in recent times, said that fares have gone up by 10 to 12%.
"Taxis for which we charged Rs 9 per Km, we are now charging Rs 10 per Km and taxis for which we charged Rs 12 per Km, we are now charging Rs 13 per litre."
Both Saxena and Imran agreed that operations of online tax operators-Ola and Uber- have taken a hit.
" They had reduced the margin shared with the taxi owners. Like, if they were earning Rs 45,000 to Rs 55,000 at one point of time, it has come down to Rs 35,000. Therefore, they thought it better to operate their taxi on their own and many of those who had attached their cars with Ola and Uber are now working independently," said Saxena.
Imran said that Ola and Uber taxis are far less on roads now because Ola, which had its own fleet of 1500 cars, which it had given drivers to operate, has grounded them. You can see at least 1000 Ola cars parked in the yard at 11 Mile near Samardha.
Uber never had its fleet of cars and now both Ola and Uber are only working with taxis attached to the company and in the absence of incentives and bonuses they offered in the past, their number has also reduced considerably. Both the companies know there is not enough business in Bhopal at least for now", he said.
Rajeev Shrivastava, a person well-versed with the intricacies of cab business said "Ola had a greater share of business in Bhopal but it's working more on its project to introduce electrical two-wheelers along with its partner Okaya, at least that is what I have heard. My own car was attached with Ola once, he added.
Ola and Uber, none of the two have offices in Bhopal, but according to reports they have decided to increase fares by 11% and 13% respectively. How it's going to impact their business in Bhopal is yet to be seen.
