KOLKATA: The tedious wait after booking an app cab and the anxiety of spotting it thereafter amidst a sea of identical vehicles crowding the arrival level at Kolkata airport ended on Saturday with Uber and Ola moving into designated parking bays.
Fares from the airport to various destinations also slumped as the Rs 100 parking fee that the airport charged from app cab aggregators has been slashed to Rs 35. The reduction of Rs 65 will reflect in riders’ fares, reports The Times of India.
Eleven parking slots had been allotted to the two app cab aggregators by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Wednesday.
But it was only on Saturday that cabs finally rolled into them. An attempt by one of the aggregators to drive into the parking slot earlier on Wednesday met with stiff opposition from yellow and white luxury taxis.
Both Uber and Ola have entered into agreements with AAI for enhanced services at five airports, including Kolkata, but the heavily unionised metered and luxury taxis that do not have any pact with AAI continued to call the shots.
Finally, police stepped in on Friday evening following pleas from AAI and app aggregators and assured them they could start the new suite of services from Saturday.
