Vijay govt hikes auto fares from Rs 25 to Rs 50 in Tamil Nadu, a first in 13 years

The Tamil Nadu government has revised autorickshaw fares in the state for the first time in 13 years, following repeated protests by auto drivers.Under the revised rates, the minimum fare has been doubled from Rs 25 to Rs 50 for the first 1.8 km. Passengers will now have to pay Rs 25 for every additional kilometre, compared with the earlier rate of Rs 12.The revised fare structure also stipulates that nighttime rides, between 10 pm and 5 am, will cost 1.5 times the regular fare.A waiting charge of Rs 1 per minute is also part of the price revision. The previous government-approved autorickshaw fare structure was introduced in 2013. NEW TAMIL NADU AUTO FARESThe state gazette in this regard was issued on Tuesday, October 27. This came a day after Tamil Nadu’s state-owned dairy cooperative, Aavin, announced a hike in the prices of ghee, butter, curd, milk-based sweets, lassi and cookies sold by it, making the products costlier ahead of Diwali.The price hike is the first by the cooperative body under the TVK-led government. The price of a 100-ml pack of ghee has been increased from Rs 80 to Rs 95, while the 200-ml pack will now cost Rs 180, up from Rs 160.Butter prices have also been raised, with a 100-gram pack now costing Rs 70 instead of Rs 60. The upward revision in prices was set to come into effect from Wednesday, October 28.- Ends