Premier Padmini cabs were not just a mode of daily commute, but also a part of Mumbai's cultural heritage as they featured in numerous Bollywood movies.
For decades, if one had to conjure up a picture of Mumbai, the imagery would be incomplete without the city's ‘Premier Padmini' taxis. For, the public carriers, fondly called ‘kaali-peeli', were more than just a mode of transport. They were attached to every aspect of the city.
Giving way to newer models and app-based cab services, these black-and-yellow taxis will now bow out from Mumbai's streets, following the path of retirement recently taken by the BEST's legendary red double-decker diesel buses.
A transport department official said the last Premier Padmini was registered as a black-and-yellow taxi at the Tardeo RTO, which has jurisdiction over the island city of Mumbai, on October 29, 2003. As the age limit for cabs in the city is 20 years, Mumbai officially won't have a Premier Padmini taxi from Monday onwards.
This transition comes shortly after the phasing out of the last iconic diesel-powered double-decker buses in the fleet of public transporter Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking due to the end of their 15-year codal life.
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The retirement of two once-ubiquitous and crucial modes of public carriers in a matter of weeks has left Mumbai's transportation enthusiasts heavy-hearted, with some demanding that at least one ‘Premier Padmini' be preserved on the road or in a museum.
Classic car enthusiast Daniel Sequeira said these sturdy cabs have been a part of the city's landscape for more than five decades and hold sentimental value for several generations. “In the city, we are preserving several old monuments. Similar to those, we also need to preserve these iconic cabs, which are living monuments,” said Sequeira, who has added an old taxi mechanical fare meter to his collection due to his love for these cabs.
A few years ago, the Mumbai Taximen's Union, one of the biggest taxi driver unions in the city, had petitioned the government to preserve at least one kaali-peeli, but without any success.
Mumbai now has over 40,000 black-and-yellow cabs, though, in the late '90s, it had about 63,000 of them, including the air-conditioned “cool cabs” with their distinctive ‘blue and silver' colour scheme.
In the 1970s, the model was rebranded as “Premier President” and subsequently as “Premier Padmini”, after the legendary Indian queen Padmini. Thereafter, the car manufactured by Premier Automobile Limit (PAL) never went through a name change until its production stopped in 2001, he said.
Some 100-125 Premier Padmini taxis remained unregistered due to lack of availability of spare parts or other reasons, for a long time after production ceased. However, in 2003, car dealers managed to secure their registration and the last taxi registered then will now be scrapped, Quadros said.
Premier Padmini cabs were not just a mode of daily commute, but also a part of Mumbai's cultural heritage as they featured in numerous Bollywood movies, including ‘Taxi No. 9211', ‘Khaali-Peeli', and ‘Aa Ab Laut Chale'.
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 "Mumbai's iconic ‘Premier Padmini' taxis to go off roads after six decades")
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