Sat, 31 Oct, 2026, 07:18 pm
Reported by The Times of India
Mumbai: A fresh one rupee per kg increase in CNG prices across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) from Sunday has triggered sharp criticism from autorickshaw and taxi unions, which say the steady rise in fuel costs is eroding their earnings and burdening public transport operators. There is no hike in piped cooking gas rate.
With the latest revision, the retail price of CNG has gone up from Rs 89 per kg to 90, marking the sixth increase since April. The hike follows a Rs 2 per kg increase implemented on Sept 1, when minimum autorickshaw fares were raised from Rs 26 to Rs 27 and another rupee hike on October 1.
Mumbai Rickshawmen’s Union leader Thampy Kurien said unions were opposed to the latest increase. “There has been a series of hikes over the past seven months and this has put an additional burden on autorickshaw and taxi drivers. The benefit of the recent fare revision will be wiped out by rising fuel costs,” Kurien said.
The city’s CNG The fleet includes around 4.7 lakh autorickshaws, 1.6 lakh taxis and over 5 lakh private cars, among other vehicles including buses, highlighting the region’s growing dependence on CNG for daily mobility.
