The Maharashtra government on Tuesday sought the Bombay High Court's approval for the proposed auto and taxi fare hike announced by the Mumbai Metropolitan Road Transport Authority (MMRTA)
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The hike was announced following recommendations by the one-man Hakim Committee. The high court approval is necessary as a PIL by consumer rights body Mumbai Grahak Panchayat (MGP) has challenged the committee and its findings few years ago. Government pleader Abhinandan Vagyani on Tuesday mentioned the matter before a division bench of justices N H Patil and S B Shukre which said it would hear the matter on June 11.
MGP had filed a petition on Monday seeking a direction to defer the proposed fare hike in light of the government's decision to junk the Hakim panel. "The fare hikes have been based on the one-man Hakim committee report, which the state government recently announced it was scrapping to set up a larger three-member panel, headed by a retired high court judge," said advocate Uday Warunjikar.
The MGP urged the court to order that the proposed fare hike be deferred till the three-member committee submits a report. The court will hear Panchayat's petition on June 11 along with the government's application.
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