Hire pre-paid taxis in Shimla from March 2, says minister

SHIMLA: Pre-paid taxi service will start in Shimla from March 2, said transport minister Govind Singh Thakur during a meeting with the taxi operator unions on Thursday.

He said the government will fix the rates of the service and prepaid booths will be set up at 22 places across the capital town. At later stage, an app will also be developed for booking these taxis, he said.

“Chief minister Jai Ram Thakur will inaugurate the pre-paid taxi service, which will also start in other parts of the state soon,” said transport minister.

The minister said that the state government has taken cognizance of empanelled companies selling global positioning system (GPS) devices to the taxi operators at higher rates than the open market.

He said that installing GPS tracking device in all commercial vehicles has been made mandatory under the amended Motor Vehicle Act.

“State government has empanelled some companies to sell the device to taxi operators.

However, we have received complaints from the taxi operators that these companies were charging higher price than the market rate. The transport department has been directed to look into the matter,” said Thakur.

STATE-EMPANELLED GPS COMPANIES CHARGING HIGH PRICES

The taxi operators have alleged that the companies empanelled by the state government were charging more than ₹18,000 for the GPS devices which cost around ₹6,000 to ₹8,000 in the market.