Illegal taxis thrive between Pune,Mumbai

The commuters’ preference for illegal transport stems basically from two facts: Easy availability of a vehicle and cheaper rates compared to government buses and legal taxis. “From about 50 illegal taxis about five years ago,the number has reached 125 today. In all,we have 450 registered and authorised taxis,of which only 50 are on road on a given weekday. A majority of the illegal ones run daily. On a week day,about 100 passengers travel by registered cars while 200- 250 take illegal ones. The numbers double during weekends,” said Uttam Chavare,president,Mumbai-Pune Taxi Owners’ Association.

The MSRTC had,after the techie’s murder in 2006,brought in a special stop at Hinjewadi. Even while maintaining that the response to the stop is good,corporation spokesperson Mukund Dhus said,“We are taking a number of steps such as the introduction of semi-luxury buses at affordable rates and competent with the small private taxis,mobile booking of tickets,online booking and so on. Despite all these,IT professionals go for small-time monetary benefits. Besides,we do not operate between 11 pm and 5 am and that’s when the private cars make maximum business.”

Besides cheaper rates,the illegal transport vehicles have an efficient system in place. Not only do they have a parking space beside the Pune station bus stand along with a fleet of high-end cars,but also a team of agents who for a commission of Rs 20-30 per passenger,work in three shifts,which is not the case with registered services.

The associations had recently submitted a list of 20 such agents to DCP (Traffic) Manoj Patil. “We keep sending the inputs,contact numbers and names of persons involved to police,but they don’t take any action,” alleged Kailas Kanchan,president,Pune-Mumbai Taxi Owners’ Association.

But the police do not feel that the illegal transport is a serious problem. “As per our records,there are no illegal taxis between Pune and Mumbai. As a preventive measure,we will shift the Pune-Mumbai Taxi Owners’ Association to a new parking space within 10 days,” Patil said.

Safe & secure

Drivers registered,safety assured

Vehicles registered,insured

Rs 1 lakh-5 lakh insurance cover in case of accidents

Free medical help enroute

Assistance in case of technical fault

Drivers do only a trip a day,against multiple trips by illegal taxi drivers

Commuters yet to tune in to radio cabs

A year after proposing to run radio cabs in the city,the idea to start them has remained on paper only. The Regional Transport Authority (RTA) claimed that there would be no problem in launching the service by next month. But Baba Shinde,member,RTA,said,“The government is in the process of finalising the fees. Unless it is fixed,we cannot issue tenders. The fee structure should be finalised by next month with the plan rolling out by September end.” After the Hinjewadi gangrape last year,RTA came up with a plan to run dial-a-cab service.