KATHMANDU, Jan 10: Cabs operating in Bagmati Province are increasing their fares by around 20 percent effective from January 15 after the provincial government approved the new fare rates.

According to the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Transport of Bagmati Province, the minimum charge for a taxi ride has been fixed at Rs 60. The passenger will be charged additional Rs 9.80 every 200 meters of travel.

As of now, passengers have to pay a minimum charge of Rs 50 and Rs 8.80 every 200 meters of distance traveled. According to the new fare rate, the minimum charge will go up by Rs 10 while the passengers need to pay an additional Rs 5 per kilometer. The last time taxi fare was increased was in September 2019 when the cab operators increased the fares by over 10 percent.

The government has made it mandatory for cab operators to use taxi meters while revising the travel fares. Likewise, the cab operators are supposed to provide the passengers with a visiting card which has printed details like taxi registration number and telephone number of the cab driver, among other information.

Citing increasing costs, taxi drivers have long been demanding the government to raise the fares. After the government allowed the operators of public buses to increase their rate by 23 percent last October, taxi drivers even launched protests to force the government to fulfill their wish list.  

Bowing down to the cab operators, the government consented to hike the taxi fares at a time when the service seekers are at the receiving end, forced to pay exorbitant fares as the cab drivers refuse to go by the meter. Many taxi drivers are even found tampering with the taximeters so that they can even surcharge the passengers. 

 
• cabs
 
• fares
 
• increase