Ride sharing apps’ fare calculator to come under government scrutiny

The ride fare calculator mechanism of all taxi aggregators including Ola and Uber is expected to come under the scrutiny of central government. As per a latest proposal under discussion, the government may ask the taxi aggregators to get their fare calculator software validated from Ministry of Electronics and IT. In order to bring transparency in the pricing mechanism of the taxi providers across the country, the government may decide on a single fare calculator method.

One government official stated, “The fare calculation mechanism for all modes of public transport are authorized by government. We need to do the same for taxi aggregators so their system becomes credible and there are no doubts on the software they use for calculating fares, taking into account distance travelled and time taken”. As per the official, the state governments may decide on having a separate fare meter per their guidelines, however, the software needs to be vetted once as per Union Government’s guidelines.

In addition to the above, the government is also proposing the aggregators to add black and yellow taxis on their platform to create level playing field. It will be interesting to see how the aggregators respond to these proposals since they are constantly nudged by the government interference in daily operations.