Residents of Mumbai and the metropolitan region will have to pay Rs 28 as the minimum fare for travelling in black and yellow taxis and Rs 23 for auto rickshaws, with the basic fares being hiked by Rs 3 and Rs 2 respectively, authorities said on Tuesday.?

The new fares will come into effect from October 1, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Transport Authority (MMRTA) said in a release.?The minimum fare for a distance of 1.5 km for kaali-peeli taxis has been hiked to Rs 28 from Rs 25 and the same to Rs 23 from Rs 21 for auto-rickshaws.

"Beyond this minimum flag down distance, passengers will have to pay Rs 18.66 per km instead of Rs 16.93 per km for taxis and Rs 15.33 a km instead of 14.20 (per km) for auto-rickshaws," the release said.?

The decision to hike the fares was taken in the MMRTA meeting chaired by the Maharashtra transport secretary on Monday. But it was announced only after the minutes of the meeting were signed.?

The existing fare for around 60,000 taxis and about 4.6 lakh auto-rickshaws in MMR has been in force since March 1, 2021. The new rates will be applicable for petrol as well as CNG-operated taxis, the MMRTA said.

The taxi and auto rickshaw fares were revised as CNG price was hiked to Rs 80 per kg from Rs 49.40 per kg on March 1, 2021, besides the rising cost of living, inflation and other factors, it stated.?

The minimum distance fare of blue-silver 'Cool' cab taxis is hiked to Rs 40 per km from Rs 33 per km, and thereafter the per km fare of these cabs will be Rs 26.71.?As per the release, the MMRTA has given two months between October 1 to November 30 for the recalibration of fare metres installed in taxis and auto rickshaws.

(With PTI inputs)