Mumbai:
If all goes well, two months hence, you will be able to book your daily ride in the black-and-yellow taxis by calling a call centre, which will arrange a taxi for you at your location. The reason: the transport department's 'Call Taxi' scheme has got a push after a few modifications to the original.
In the coming days, the transport department will send letters to six organisations, which had shown early interest in starting call centres to service commuters and drivers of black-and-yellow taxis. The letters will inform them of the modifications to the scheme. Some of them are registration of only those black-and-yellow taxis that are not older than two years in the call centre's database, restricting the shelf-life of the vehicles plying under the scheme to eight years and a ban on rooftop advertising. Other conditions -- a consent letter from 500 taxi permit holders in the first stage and 1,500 at the time of applying -- remain.
A source from transport department said, "Those who are serious will apply. Once they do, we will send them LOI (Letter of Intent). We are also verifying claims of interested parties by visiting their offices, checking their infrastructure etc. We are looking at a span of at least two months before vehicles enrolled in the scheme get to drive on city's streets."
As per the scheme, the contractor who will run the call centre will get advertising rights on the hood and doors of the taxis in return for setting up the costly Global Positioning System - crucial to locate the precise location of taxis so that the nearest taxi could be sent to the commuter.
When DNA spoke to state transport commissioner Dilip Jadhav, he said, "It (the scheme) will create a win-win situation for everyone - the commuters and the taximen. For the taximen, it will be a good option to the present situation and for the commuter too, travelling will become more convenient."
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