No ads on taxis’ rear windows

After the central Regional Transport Office (RTO)
in Tardeo asked the BEST undertaking to remove the
giant vinyl advertisements on air-conditioned buses, it
has written to fleet taxi companies to remove ads on the rear glass windows, citing official rules which prohibit the practice.

Regional transport officer MP Jadhav of the Tardeo RTO confirmed that he had written to the fleet taxi companies regarding the illegal vinyl ads.

“I have seen several fleet taxis which have their rear windows covered in bright advertisements. I have written to the companies about it and am hopeful they will take corrective action at the earliest,” Jadhav said. In his letter, Jadhav has promised cancellation of licenses - the strictest punishment possible - against companies that fail to abide by the guidelines.

There are three predominant fleet taxi service providers in the city - Easy cabs, Mega cabs and Meru. The largest among them, according to number of vehicles - close to 2200 taxis - is Meru. Rajesh Puri, chief executive officer of Meru, claims that no taxi in the company’s fleet had a vinyl advertisement on its rear window. “We had such instances in the past and, when it was brought to our notice, we ensured that they were taken off,” Puri said.

The BEST undertaking, meanwhile, has finally decided to put the ‘no advertisement’ directive in action. “We have written to the contractor to remove them. He is free to consult the RTO officials if he wants to try out innovative ways of advertising without violating rules,” a BEST official told DNA on the condition of anonymity.