Officials to discuss taxi fare issue today

SHILLONG: The COVID-19 situation has brought many hardships for the people of the state and one of the affected categories is the taxi commuters in the city who are now made to shell out a tidy sum commuting in a local taxi.
Fares ranging from Rs 80 per passenger in a shared taxi to Rs 150 for hiring a taxi to commute from one point to another are the order of the day.
Taking cognizance of the matter after receiving numerous complaints, Chairman of the Planning Board Lambor Malngiang has called for a meeting of the
Secretary Transport, District Transport Officer on Friday to discuss the matter.
Malngiang said that he can understand the plight of the cabbies but to charge so much was not right. Initially he thought that this might be a one off kind, Malngiang however said that he has been receiving such complaints on a regular basis.
“I have called a meeting to discuss and decide the way forward where both the passengers and the cabbies will benefit,” he said.
It may be mentioned that the cabbies are running on an odd-even basis and the passengers are also limited and the fuel prices have gone up. They also maintain that they have to charge higher rates as they are boarding fewer passengers these days in view of the social distancing norm of the government.