Latest news with #Rs250


Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Commuters feel the pinch as cab drivers stay firm on ‘fare by meter'
Pune: Cab users on Friday continued to face the high-headedness of cab drivers — adamant on charging fares by the meter (RTA rates) — proving several rounds of meetings with government officials a futile exercise. Avinash Jatav, a bank professional, landed in Pune from Delhi on Friday morning. He had to go to Hinjewadi Phase-1. He said, "The cabbie accepted my ride, and a fare of Rs480 reflected on the application. But the man told me about the pay-by-meter rule and demanded Rs560. I somehow forced him to cancel the ride and took a prepaid autorickshaw for Rs530. I have never heard about such a rule in any city," Jatav said. Commuters trying to book cabs from Uber and other aggregators echoed Jatav. They said most cabbies remained firm on charging "fares by meter", resulting in many cancelling rides because of high fares and few budging under pressure. Cabbies term the Regional Transport Authority (RTA)'s rates "fare by meter". You Can Also Check: Pune AQI | Weather in Pune | Bank Holidays in Pune | Public Holidays in Pune Wagholi resident Ashish Deokar said authorities, particularly the Pune RTO (Regional Transport Officer) officials, were responsible for the cabbies' stubbornness. "They never took any action against this practice when it began with autorickshaws. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Learn More - How Watching Videos Can Boost Your Income TheDaddest Undo Had they acted strictly, the situation wouldn't have worsened. Last week, an Ola driver demanded Rs250 for a trip from Pune station to FC Road, a distance of around 5km. Does this make any sense?" he said. TOI's attempts to contact the Pune RTO and the deputy RTO proved futile. Another RTO official said, "We didn't take action because we didn't want a major agitation, which would have caused more issues. The cab aggregator policy is coming. It will settle all problems." Magarpatta's IT professional Atul Singh (name changed on request) and his three friends are still in a shock over their nightmarish experience with an Uber driver on Thursday afternoon. We went for a team outing to Katraj and booked an Uber from Keshavnagar — our meeting point. We opted for an 'Uber for Business' ride, but the driver didn't accept it. He told us that we would have to pay by the 'meter'. The application showed a fare of Rs280, but we ended up paying Rs500," he said. "One of my colleagues raised an issue on the Uber application, to which the driver got agitated and forcibly took a picture of his PAN card. He threatened that if his ID was cancelled because of the complaint, the consequences would be dire," Singh said. On Thursday, Keshav Kshirsagar, the president of the Indian Gig Workers' Front, said cabbies would be boycotting Uber indefinitely because it went to the Bombay high court against them. There was no major surge in fare in the application on Friday, but Kshirsagar said soon the boycott would have its effects. "Information is being spread to all the cab drivers at the moment," he said.


Time of India
5 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Elan Group repays ₹875 crore debt to PAG's Asia Pragati Fund, strengthens financial position
Elan Group, a Gurgaon-based developer, has repaid Rs 875 crore debt to Asia Pragati Strategic Investment Fund, enhancing its financial flexibility. This strategic move will reduce interest liabilities and create opportunities for reinvestment in future projects and land acquisitions. Recently, the company also raised Rs 250 crore from Piramal Finance for a commercial project. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Gurgaon-based developer Elan Group , which has recently raised Rs250 crore from Piramal Finance for the construction of a commercial project in the city, has repaid Rs 875 crore debt availed from Asia Pragati Strategic Investment Fund , part of PAG — one of the largest private investment firms in Asia Asia Pragati invested Rs 875 crores in Elan Group in the year 2022, with the funds used towards growth capital.'In an industry where prudent capital management is key to long-term leadership, this development reinforces Elan Group's position as a future-ready developer with the financial resilience to scale, deliver and lead with conviction,' said Sandeep Agarwal, Executive Director–Finance & Group CFO, Elan strategic deleveraging is expected to reduce interest liabilities, strengthen liquidity and create headroom for reinvestment into future projects and land acquisitions. The enhanced financial flexibility will allow the Group to accelerate construction schedules and deepen its presence in high-opportunity Group holds a portfolio of 15 projects spread across Gurugram and New Delhi, offering a built-up area of approximately 25 million sq. ft. This includes ultra-luxury residential projects such as Elan The Emperor and Elan The Presidential alongside integrated commercial and retail destinations like Elan The Mark, Elan Imperial, Elan Empire, Elan Paradise, Elan Epic, Elan Town Centre, Elan Miracle and Elan company had also raised Rs 1,200 crore funding from Kotak Real Estate Fund last year.


Time of India
11-07-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
Second leg of western ring road project to begin soon in Coimbatore
Coimbatore: Work on the ambitious western ring road project to decongest the city and ensure seamless traffic flow by providing an easy route for the vehicles that otherwise don't have to enter the busy city streets is likely to enter the second phase soon. Phase I of the project, which covers a distance of 11.80 kilometres from Mylkal to Madampatti, is expected to be over by the end of August or early September this year. The highways department has sent a proposal to the state govt, seeking Rs368 crore to implement phase II of the project for a stretch of 12.54 kilometres from Madampatti to Kanuvai village via West Chithiraichavadi, Kalikkanaickenpalayam, Vadavalli and Somayampalayam villages. "We have acquired 90% of the land required for executing phase II of the project. This stretch passes through agricultural fields. Once the govt approves the proposal, work on clearing the stretch will begin with the help of earth movers. The recently formed Tamil Nadu State Highways Authority will oversee the remaining two phases of the project. The phase II of the project is likely to commence in September this year, if everything goes well," said an official with the State Highways Department. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like So sánh mức trượt giá: Hợp đồng tương lai (CFD) Bitcoin vs Ethereum IC Markets Tìm hiểu thêm Undo He said the 12.54km stretch to be developed in the second phase would feature 40 culverts, small bridges and three vehicular underpasses. "The work will commence after obtaining administrative sanction from the state govt." The highways department is, meanwhile, planning to send a proposal for the third and final phase of the project to the state govt. In this phase, road would be laid for a stretch of 8.09 kilometres from Kanuvai to Narasimmanaickenpalayam at a cost of Rs220 crore. This stretch would feature 24 culverts, small bridges and two vehicular underpasses. The state govt had earlier sanctioned Rs250 crore for the first phase of the project, which is being expedited now. Once the western ring road is ready, traffic congestion in the city will be reduced drastically. People traveling to Ooty from Palakkad Road wouldn't have to enter the city. They could take the western ring road to reach Narasimmanaickenpalayam from Mylkal for a smooth travel.


Express Tribune
10-07-2025
- General
- Express Tribune
Bride refuses to return to groom's village
A young lady has refused to return to her husband's home after spending just 10 days in his village, prompting a protest in front of the Badin Press Club by residents of Arab Sheedi village. The protesters, including the groom, Ghulam Rasool Sheedi, his mother Hajiani, and father Muhammad Hassan Sheedi, appealed to authorities for intervention, demanding the return of the bride or compensation for wedding expenses. During a press conference, Hassan stated that his son married Hina 22 days ago. Then, 10 days after the wedding, Hina's father took her back to her parental home in Murad Mallah Para, near Qazia Wah, for 10 days during Muharram, saying he would bring her back on the 11th of Muharram. However, Hassan stated that when they went to bring her back, Hina, upon her parents' instructions, refused to return. According to him, when the groom's family sought help from community elders to resolve the matter, the bride's family behaved disrespectfully, refused to send Hina back, and made threats telling the groom's family to leave and not return. Further, Hassan claimed they had spent Rs250,000 on the wedding and demanded that if Hina's family refuses to send her back, they should at least reimburse the expenses. He alleged the bride is unwilling to leave urban life to live in the village. The family called on authorities to take notice of the issue and ensure the bride is returned so their son could begin his married life.


Express Tribune
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Leghari sets the record straight
Pakistan loses Rs250 billion annually to power theft in the country — not Rs500 billion as some claim — Energy Minister Awais Leghari told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Power on Tuesday. The committee, chaired by Muhammad Idrees, was informed that K-Electric could now draw up to 600 megawatts (MW) of electricity from the national grid, bringing its total power availability to 2,000MW. The minister's statement came during a suggestion from committee member Rana Sikandar Hayat, who urged the issuance of new connections to housing societies to boost consumption. "If demand notices are issued, we'll install the connections," the minister said. "Power theft is not Rs500 billion as claimed — it's Rs250 billion annually," Leghari added. Hayat pointed out that the remaining amount was due to unpaid bills. Malik Anwar Taj raised public concerns regarding excessive billing when usage crossed the 200-unit threshold. He demanded that the committee include this issue in the agenda. "Why does the bill spike so drastically for just one extra unit?" he asked. While briefing the committee, officials said that any fault at the Jamshoro grid led to a complete blackout across the entire Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) network. They explained that failure at the Jamshoro grid disrupted electricity supply to 13 cities. The minister replied that Jamshoro grid only went offline during national blackouts. "I don't recall any isolated incident of fault within the Jamshoro grid," he explained. However, Hesco officials maintained that past incidents had indeed resulted in faults at Jamshoro that led to widespread outages. They called for the establishment of an alternative 220 kV grid station for Hesco, which should be connected through Matiari or Nawabshah. Committee member Syed Waseem Hussain maintained that the fault at Jamshoro grid affected Karachi also. Leghari dismissed this claim, stating that the Jamshoro grid "has no connection with K-Electric" and its system was separate; therefore, "it does not affect Karachi". The minister shared updates on the K-Electric's integration with the national grid. K-Electric officials informed the committee that the utility had established four interconnection points with the national grid, with a combined capacity of over 2,000MW. They said that two major grid stations — the 500 kV KKI grid and the 220 kV Dhabeji grid - had been successfully energised, adding that under an interim arrangement, the KKI grid was drawing up to 1,600MW from the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) network. The officials also informed the committee that a new connection point was under construction between K2/K3 and PQEPCL, linked via a 500 kV NTDC transmission line. This line is expected to be completed by the end of July 2025. "Once fully constructed and integrated with the KKI grid, K-Electric's drawdown capacity from the national grid is projected to reach approximately 2,100 MW," an official said. A K-Electric official clarified that this enhanced capacity depended on regulatory approvals and completion of technical feasibilities.