76% app taxi users back Maharashtra-style penalty for driver cancellations

LocalCircles survey finds overwhelming support for financial penalties on drivers cancelling confirmed rides, with many seeking stricter rules for airport and hospital trips

Nearly three in four users of app-based taxi services want their states to introduce financial penalties for drivers who cancel rides after accepting them, mirroring Maharashtra's recently notified aggregator cab policy, according to a LocalCircles survey.

 

The survey, which received over 22,000 responses from users across 288 districts, found that 76 per cent of respondents favoured Maharashtra-style penalties for driver cancellations. Another 14% supported such penalties provided passengers are also fined for unjustified cancellations, while 5% said drivers should be allowed a limited number of free cancellations each day.

 

The findings come weeks after Maharashtra rolled out its Aggregator Cabs Policy 2025. Under this policy, drivers who cancel a confirmed ride without a valid reason must compensate passengers with 10 per cent of the fare or ₹100, whichever is lower.

 

 

For rides to airports, railway stations and hospitals, the penalty rises to 50 per cent of the fare, reflecting the higher inconvenience caused by last-minute cancellations. The policy also caps surge pricing at 1.5 times the base fare and mandates grievance redressal mechanisms for passengers.

 

Ride cancellations continue to frustrate commuters

 

The survey suggests that complaints about app-based taxi services remain high. A previous LocalCircles survey conducted in 2025 found that 82 per cent of users had experienced ride cancellations by drivers, up from 75 per cent in 2023.

 

It also reported that 74% of passengers had drivers cancel rides after learning that payment would be digital, the destination was inconvenient, or both, while the share of users who were charged cancellation fees nearly doubled to 45% from 23% two years earlier.

 

For commuters, arbitrary cancellations often translate into missed flights and trains, delayed office arrivals, higher fares due to repeated bookings and uncertainty during emergencies. Many users also complain that drivers ask passengers to cancel bookings themselves, allowing drivers to avoid platform-imposed penalties while customers risk being charged cancellation fees. 

Ride cancellations to airports, hospitals should face higher penalty

 

The survey also found support for tougher penalties in time-sensitive situations. A majority of respondents said drivers cancelling rides booked to airports, railway stations or hospitals should face a penalty five times higher than that for ordinary trips, in line with Maharashtra's framework.

 

Maharashtra is among the first states to explicitly implement monetary penalties for “unjustified” driver cancellations under a comprehensive aggregator policy. While states such as Karnataka, Delhi and Telangana have either notified or are working on regulations based on the Centre's Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2025, enforcement mechanisms vary across jurisdictions.