Taxis singled out for action

Why is the RTO catching only taxis? We are barely 50,000 in number, look at the pollution being caused by BEST buses and trucks and even ...

Why is the RTO catching only taxis? We are barely 50,000 in number, look at the pollution being caused by BEST buses and trucks and even the BMC8217;s garbage vehicles.

The problem of pollution would be solved if the RTO was honest. Agreed, we taxi drivers fit the polluting Diahatsu and Turbo diesel engines bought in chor bazaar to save costs, but these engines are cleared by the RTO after taking bribes from us. The RTO offices crawl with dalaals. I have known of drivers who have paid bribes of Rs 5,000 to get these illegal engines cleared by the RTO. It costs around Rs 1,400 to clear your vehicle with the RTO, whatever be its condition. The dalaal comes around, dabs a little paint on your car and the RTO clears it. Everybody is happy. There are cases of people paying Rs 10,000 under the table to clear their diesel taxis, long after they were banned by the RTO.

So when we anyway have to pay them bribes to get our cars passed, why should we spend much on maintenance?

I am 27, I have a wife and child at mynative village to look after. I have four school-going brothers and aged parents to support. I barely manage to make ends meet with what I earn. How much can a person who is himself in trouble bother about issues like health of the people. I8217;ve been driving a taxi for the last seven years. Business is no longer as attractive as it once used to be. When the number of taxis doubled from 25,000 to 50,000, our daily earnings shrank from Rs 500 to Rs 250. This leaves us even little money for maintenance. I would have to spend Rs 100 every week to repair my doors which don8217;t close properly from the day-long slamming they are subjected to. I can8217;t afford to.

As for the 137D engines which the RTO has now banned, it is a joint conspiracy of the RTO and the manufacturing company. These engines were sold to us by the company after being cleared by the government and now the government suddenly turns around and says they are polluting and should be banned. What are the thousands of poor drivers who8217;ve legally boughtthese engines supposed to do? A diesel taxi costs around Rs 2.7 lakh. With interest this comes to over Rs 3 lakh. How do you expect a poor driver who has paid three lakh to scrap his car overnight for Rs 10,000? He8217;d starve to death. We drive diesel taxis only because they are cost efficient, but if the government is so concerned about pollution, why don8217;t they give us incentives to buy new cars with CNG engines on easy loan schemes? And the filling stations for CNG cars are insufficient. I formerly drove my own CNG taxi which I purchased after taking a loan. I had to wait up to three hours everyday to get a gas refill at Mumbai Central. So now I drive someone else8217;s diesel taxi around for 12 hours a day.

Pal is a taxi driver
As told to Sandeep Unnithan