The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has revised the Motor Vehicles Aggregator Guidelines, allowing cab aggregators like Ola and Uber to charge up to twice the base fare during peak hours. This move, likely to affect daily commuters, increases the earlier fare cap of 1.5 times, giving ride-hailing services more flexibility in pricing during high-demand periods.

According to the new rules, cab companies are allowed to charge a minimum of 50 per cent of the base fare during non-peak hours, while they can charge up to twice the base fare during peak hours.

These new rules aim to strike a balance between user safety, driver welfare, and business operations.

The base fare will be determined by the respective state government, which will notify specific amounts for different types or classes of motor vehicles.

Accordingly, States have been advised to adopt the new guidelines within the next three months.

The government has also clarified that the base fare should cover a minimum distance of 3 kilometres.

This is to compensate for the 'dead mileage', the distance and fuel used by the driver to reach the passenger's pickup point.

However, passengers will not be charged separately for dead mileage unless the total ride distance is less than 3 km.

For all rides, the fare will be calculated based on the distance from the pickup point to the drop-off point. The guidelines also prioritise fair payment for drivers, ensuring that those who own their vehicles and partner with aggregators receive a minimum of 80 per cent of the total fare collected.

The aggregator can keep the remaining amount. The payment to drivers can be settled daily, weekly, or fortnightly based on their agreement with the company.

In cases where the vehicle is owned by the aggregator but operated by a driver, the driver must get at least 60 per cent of the fare collected, while the aggregator can retain the rest.

The government has also set new rules for cancellations. If a driver cancels a ride after accepting it without a valid reason, a penalty of 10 per cent of the fare up to a maximum of Rs 100 will be charged.

The same rule applies to passengers who cancel a ride without a valid reason.

Inputs from Ians