The e-rickshaws or "totos" that ply in New Town will be made available on a ride-hailing mobile app as well as through a centralised number.
They are being developed by the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA).
The vehicles that register on the app will have specific fare charts that the NKDA will fix after meeting representatives of the e-rickshaw drivers, a senior NKDA official said.
"The fares will be fixed by the NKDA. We are developing this app and will also run a ride-hailing number," the official said.
Several New Town residents as well as regular visitors to New Town said e-rickshaws charge exorbitant rates for even short distances.
Even though New Town has seen an increase in the number of buses over the past few years there are few options barring e-rickshaws for people to depend on for last-mile connectivity.
Although bicycles and e-bikes can be hired from bicycle docking stations through an app in New Town there is precious little for those who don't know how to ride a bike or for the elderly when it comes to hopping from one block to another.
Mantu Deb, who has been driving an e-rickshaw in the New Town bus stand area for the past several years, said: "We are already on other app-based ride-hailing platforms so we don't mind another. However, the fares have to be competitive."
A senior NKDA official said they had been getting a flurry of complaints ranging from charging exorbitantly by a section of e-rickshaw drivers.
"After getting several complaints and suggestions from the residents we have decided to operate the app and the number where people will be able to get rides at fixed fares," said the official.
There are around 500 such e-rickshaws that operate across New Town, according to NKDA estimates.
However, several drivers told The Telegraph on Saturday that the actual number was much higher.
CBI conducts raids
CBI teams searched multiple addresses on Saturday in connection with its ongoing probe into alleged irregularities in recruitments.
In Haridevpur, a CBI team searched an apartment on Raja Rammohan Roy Sarani of Haimanti Ganguly, estranged wife of Gopal Dalapati, who had allegedly received money from arrested Trinamul youth leader Kuntal Ghosh. The apartment was locked. A separate team went to Dalapati’s house in Patashpur.
A third CBI team visited the house of Bibhas Adhikari, former Trinamul block president in Nalhati, Birbhum. They also searched one of his apartments on Amherst Street.
