Nearly 12,700 local taxis plying on Delhi roads: Government

Nearly 12,700 local taxis are plying on the streets of the national capital, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

In a written reply, Minister of State for Home Affairs Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary said, the public transport system in the National Capital Region "is inadequate in proportion to its population." "6,200 buses are being plied by the Government of NCT of Delhi. There are 79,746 registered auto-rickshaws in the NCT of Delhi. There are around 12,700 local taxis (yellow and black and radio taxis) and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has completed 190 km metro rail having daily ridership of 27 lakh passengers," Chaudhary said.

He was responding to a question from Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Goel on whether a large number of unregistered vehicles were being run illegally and whether the government was working on ensuring adequate availability of public transport in Delhi. "No unregistered vehicle is allowed to run illegally on Delhi roads by the Delhi Police. Regular action is taken against plying for unregistered and/or illegal vehicles on road...," he said.

The minister also said that the Delhi government "is in process of procurement of 1,360 semi low-floor buses." The Delhi government has also proposed to increase the strength of buses to 11,000, i.e., 5,500 to be plied by the DTC and 5,500 under cluster scheme, he said. "DMRC has also proposed to extend metro rail for 111 km under Phase-III (likely to be completed by year 2016) and 104 km under Phase-IV (likely to be completed by year 2021)," he said.