Yellow taxi operators write to CM seeking fare hike

Kolkata: Yellow Taxi operators on Thursday wrote to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seeking fare hike.

"We want that the minimum fare should be increased from Rs 30 to Rs 50 (for two kilometers)," said Nawal Kishor Shrivastav, convenor of West Bengal Taxi Operators' Co-ordination Committee.

The taxi operators demanded that the minimum fare should be increased from Rs 30 to Rs 50 (for two kilometres), Rs 25 for additional per kilometre. He further added that the price of diesel has shot up to Rs 77.44 per litre and the taxi fare is still the same.

"There are 22,000 yellow taxis plying across Kolkata and its adjoining areas. At present, only 11,000 yellow taxis are running on the road because the operation cost of running a taxi has increased three hundred times and the fare is constant. We will die unnatural death if the fare is not hiked at this time of financial crisis due to spiraling diesel price and COVID-19 pandemic," said Shrivastav.