Women only autos, taxis to have salmon orange colour

Women only autorickshaws and taxis will stand apart and will sport 'salmon orange' colour. On Monday, the state home department issued a notification to make amendments in the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 for the same and even to encourage having more women driven taxis on the roads.

As per the notification issued, a new sub-rule has been added that reads: "Provided that, the motor cab owned by the permit holder shall be painted in salmon orange (Aboli) colour."

This measure has been taken for safety point of view of ladies as in the recent past there have been multiple cases of women being sexually harassed by drivers.

Additionally, in order to have more of such vehicles driven by women, the state government has now made it mandatory to have lady driver if the permit of auto rickshaw or taxi is owned by a female.

At the moment, there is a limited and small number of women only vehicle hiring services. For example, Priyadarshini Taxi service has a limited fleet of around 60 vehicles.

The women only cab service has been hailed by the fairer sex for the sense of security it provides while they commute at any time of the day.

With the state government issuing a notification for it, the new fleet of autorickshaws for which permits were recently issued through lottery will now hit the roads to service the ladies.