EN 
Amidst an ongoing tussle between the Karnataka government and cab aggregators, the state government has reportedly sought to cap the convenience fee at 5% for auto rickshaw rides.
However, senior officials told the Economic Times that the convenience fee was exclusive of GST, meaning users will have to pay an additional 5% GST on an aggregate total of base fare and service charge.
This is nearly half of the prevailing interim 10% service charges that cab operators are currently allowed to charge customers.
This decision comes close on the heels of a meeting that saw Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, chief secretary, Vandita Sharma, transport secretary, NV Prasad and transport commissioner SN Siddaramappa in attendance.
The outcome also came ahead of the deadline for the government to file an affidavit on the matter before the High Court on Friday. A bench headed by Justice CM Poonacha will take up the matter for hearing on Monday.
M Manjunath, president of the Adarsha Auto and Taxi Drivers Union, welcomed the government’s latest decision and said it was in the interests of passengers and autorickshaw drivers.
In October, the court asked the stakeholders to hold meetings and decide on the overall fare fixation for autorickshaw services offered by ride-hailing apps.
It also provided interim relief to the ride-hailing apps after the government decided to ban their auto-rickshaw services. The apps were then allowed to charge 10 per cent extra plus GST for the auto-rickshaw services.
Source: Indian Express
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