Travel by taxi in Himachal Pradesh will be costlier if the plan by taxi operators of the state to demand a 10 per cent hike in fare is accepted by authorities in view of recent increase in prices of petrol and diesel.     

"We will wait for the state government's decision for another 1-2 days and if no reduction of sales tax is announced to minimise impact of recent hike in prices of petrol and diesel, we will be forced to increase taxi fare by 10 per cent," Madan Bansal, President of Vishal HP Taxi Union, Shimla, said today.     

He said currently a 4-seater taxi is charging Rs 6 per km which we propose to raise by 10 per cent and make it Rs 6.50 per km. For bigger vehicles, the present rate of Rs 9 will be raised to Rs 10 approximately, he added.     
Taxi operators of Dharamsala and Manali also echoed similar views.     

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal had recently said no to lowering of sales tax on petrol and diesel which he said at 14 per cent is already less by about 6 per cent in comparison to majority of other states.

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