New luxury taxis to hit Mumbai roads today

Mumbai: Braving resistance from Mumbai's 55,000 taximen, another private taxi company will be launching a fleet of 150 modern, digitally metered cabs to meet a growing demand from the corporate segment, foreign tourists and business travellers.

The first 50 air-conditioned Maruti Esteem "Meru" luxury taxis -equipped with GPS-based technology, tamper-proof electronic meters and printers and well-trained drivers - will roll out today, said Anjan Deb, Chief Operating Officer, V-Link Group, a leading fleet management company.

"Gradually, the fleet size will go up to 1,000 by the year end and our target is to run 10,000 taxis in the next five years," he told a press conference yesterday.

Travel experience will be pleasant as the taxis will be thoroughly cleaned everyday and amenities like city maps, wet wipes, bottled water and a selection of music will be offered initially to passengers. V-Link's taxi project is part of the Maharashtra government's fleet taxi scheme 2006 - an integral component of the government's roadmap for modernising Mumbai's infrastructure. "The policy is aimed at gradually upgrading the existing black and yellow taxis to a new operating model," he added.

Presently, the thousands of taxis that ply across the city are of the outdated Fiat Premier Padmini model, many in a dilapidated, dirty condition with drivers who refuse a fare if it doesn't suit them.

Livelihood

The unions representing them have objected to new taxis being introduced since it would take away the livelihood of these men. V-Link, however, does not think they need to compete with the existing ones.

"According to a consumer research carried out by AC Nielsen, the concept of air-conditioned, GPS-based radio taxis received a positive response from more than 90 per cent of the customers," said Deb.

The pain points consistently highlighted by customers are faulty meters, rude drivers, poor driving skills, poorly maintained vehicles and refusal to take passengers for short distances. In contrast, these modern taxis will be available by either calling the company or through its website.