They are the only operators in the city to charge convenience fee; others call the move unfair, illegal
They are the only operators in the city to charge convenience fee; others call the move unfair, illegal
Starting today, radio cab provider Meru is going to charge a convenience fee that is going to be applicable for a cab booked through the call centre. Transport department officials, however, say that this fee is illegal and only the fare set by them is applicable. Other cab services say they won't levy any such charges.
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| Added burden: For advance booking, a Meru cab charges Rs 50, whereas for immediate service, the radio cab provider will charge Rs 25 extra. Representation pic |
Meru has sent an SMS to its customers, which goes on to say, "Dear customer, from today onwards, a convenience charge is applicable for a cab booked through the call center. No additional charge for web booking/street pick-ups."
A notice on the Meru website says, "For a pick up within next 35 minutes of your call, an additional convenience charge of Rs 25 is applicable. For any other booking within 24 hrs, an additional convenience charge of Rs 50 is applicable. It will be charged in addition to your fare, and will get added automatically to your bill."
Sources at the transport department said that the fee that they are collecting as 'convenience charge' is illegal.Joint Commissioner Transport (Enforcement) Vijay Vikram said, "We have to see the terms and conditions and I will be able to clarify only after going to office today." Satish C, a customer, said, "I don't think any of the other taxi services are doing it in the city."
Gavin D'abreo, Executive Vice President-Operations, Sales and Marketing (Meru), said, "We are first introducing this in Bangalore, and later to other cities. We will charge only for cabs that are booked through the call centre. We have a dedicated call centre that provides an exclusive service. We won't charge for cabs booked online, boarded on street or at the airport."
"For advance booking we need some time and we won't know which car will be available at that point of time. We will charge Rs 50 for that. If someone wants to book immediately, we will know which cab is free and send it immediately and so Rs 25 is charged for it. This is our business model. We are also investing a lot in our call centres," he added.
The Karnataka City Taxi Operators Association (KCTOA) said that they were unaware of this fact. "None of the operators charge for such services in the city. Meru is a private national operator, and not a part of our association. As per my knowledge there are no such charges prescribed by the RTO," said Mahendra Kumar, the association secretary.
