Come 1st February and Mumbaikars will finally be able to say good bye to auto drivers that over charge or cheat the commuters on the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (Kurla). Reason, the first prepaid auto are being started from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus.
This is the very first prepaid service that is being introduced in Mumbai. This is very unlike Delhi where there are prepaid auto available on prominent places like airports, important bus stations and even on railway stations.
Lokmanya Tilak Terminus is an area that is known for its notorious auto drivers and hence the service is being started from here. One can even book these auto via a mobile app. A service fee of Rs 10 will have to be paid for every prepaid ride that the users book. MMRTA has approved the auto stand, which will be operated by a union, and Central Railway will provide space for a booth.
In case of late night travels, an additional 25 per cent charge will applied for every journey. The timing for a late night journey are from midnight to 5 am, as in case of other autos and kaali peeli taxis. Currently the fare is fixed as follows:
Rs 59 for 2-4km
Rs84 for 4-6km.
There will be 20 per cent more incentive for 0-4km, while for a 4-8km it will be 15 per cent, and 10 per cent for 8-10km. For journey that is 20-45km the incentive will be 5 per cent above the fare.
At the start, it is expected that around 500 autos will be operating on a daily basis for this prepaid service at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus.
However, if this plan takes off well, there is a possibility that these pre paid autos might be made available at other locations soon. Some of the areas where it can make an appearance are Bandra Terminus and Borivli.
These prepaid autos might face competition from auto from cab aggregator apps such as Ola and Uber.
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