8,700 taxis fitted with automated billing machine

KATHMANDU: Of the 9,700 taxis operating in Kathmandu Valley, 8,700 of them have been fitted with an automated billing machine as part of the drive to check random charging of taxi passengers, said the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM).

In a bid to prevent passengers from being cheated in taxi fare, the NBSM has launched a drive to install the billing machine in taxi metres operating in the valley around eight months ago.

"The machine is being installed in around 100 taxies on a daily basis," said NBSM General Director Bishwo Babu Pudasaini.

It costs between Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000 to fit a billing machine in a taxi.

“Those taxies without a billing machine are barred from plying in the valley,” said the NBSM.