Transport officials estimate that of the 35, 000-odd black-and-yellow taxis operational in the city, only about 8,000-10,000 are Premier Padmini taxis, which still have mechanical meters installed in them.
Your daily fight with your cab driver over meter readings is set to get worse. The reason behind this is the slow pace of meter recalibration of the 25, 000-odd taxis installed with electronic meters. Given the new fare hike which will be in effect from Sunday midnight, taxis which are recalibrated will display different fares than those which are not.
Transport officials estimate that of the 35, 000-odd black-and-yellow taxis operational in the city, only about 8,000-10,000 are Premier Padmini taxis, which still have mechanical meters installed in them.
The remaining 25, 000 new vehicles such as Santro and Eeco among others, have electronic meters. These have chips inside them that help re-calibrate the fares according to the latest fare structure using a particular software.
Anthony Quadros, general secretary of the Mumbai Taximen’s Union (MTU) admitted that getting all the electronic meters in the new black-and-yellow taxis in the city is going to consume substantial time. “It may take close to six months because there are just about 8-10 centres in the city where electronic meters could be recalibrated or repaired,” he said.
The lack of planning by the transport department for the implementation of fare hikes is now expected to be the latest cause of conflict between drivers and commuters, and confusion about fares.
Ashok Datar, transport analyst of the Mumbai Environmental Social Network (MESN) criticised the transport department for not “putting their minds into it [the implementation of fare hikes in electronic meters] as the electronic meters do not usually take too long for re-calibration and the delay is unnecessary”.
He added, “The transport officials should plan the implementation of fare hikes properly. Enough time should be given before the hike comes into effect so that re-calibration does not take long.”
For the first time the taxi tariff cards have been printed in a way that displays distance and not the fares in decimals or paise. State Transport Commissioner V N More said, “Displaying the distance and rounded off fares will help avoid too much inconvenience to the commuters. Apart from distributing the printed copies of the latest fare charts, we also plan to update out website. On Monday, people can expect updated fare tables uploaded online on www.mahatranscom.in”.
Principal Secretary (Transport), SK Sharma, said the new fare tables will also be sold at the Regional Transport Offices (RTO). “People can come to the RTOs and buy them. This will ensure transparency and they will not have to depend upon the taxi drivers for knowing the new fares.”
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