Published Jul 02, 2025 | 5:08 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 02, 2025 | 5:08 PM
Aggregators should also provide insurance coverage to passengers.
Synopsis: Drivers or passengers cancelling the ride without valid reasons will be imposed a penalty of 10 percent of the fare. The penalty is capped at ₹100.
The Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines (MVAG) 2025, issued on Wednesday, 2 July, have allowed ride-hailing platforms like Uber, Ola, Rapido, and inDrive to charge passengers double the base fare during peak hours, up from the existing 1.5 times the base fare.
However, during non-peak hours, the charge could be as low as 50 percent of the base fare, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has said.
Drivers or passengers cancelling the ride without valid reasons will be imposed a penalty of 10 percent of the fare. The penalty is capped at ₹100. Cancellation charge collected from passengers will be shared between the driver and the aggregator based on fare-sharing norms. Drivers using their own vehicles will get 80 percent of the fee, and if the vehicle is owned by the aggregator, the driver will get 60 percent.
Additionally, aggregators have been responsible for providing drivers with health insurance of at least ₹5 lakh and term insurance of ₹10 lakh. Vehicles should have Vehicle Location and Tracking Devices (VLTDs) for passenger safety. A passenger insurance of at least ₹5 lakh, too, has been mandated.
The guidelines have allowed the use of non-transport vehicles like motorcycles, subject to the approval of the respective state. Incidentally, Karnataka has banned the use of motorcycles to ferry passengers.
Though ANI Technologies, which operates Ola and Uber, approached the Karnataka High Court against the decision to ban motorcycles, the court said bike-taxi aggregators cannot operate in the state unless the government issues relevant guidelines and rules under the Motor Vehicles Act.
Incidentally, the Karnataka government is mulling over increasing auto-rickshaw meter fares in Bengaluru from ₹30 to ₹36 for the first 1.9 km and the fare for each additional kilometre from ₹15 to ₹18.
The Union ministry has given states three months to adopt the guidelines. States will also have the right to add additional provisions. Aggregators have been asked to notify states of their basic fare.
