Victims of high traffic congestion in the city have a reason to cheer. The Mumbai Taxi Chalak-Malak Sena, a registered union of taxi owners and permit holders, has filed a PIL in the Bombay high court, challenging the state government’s decision to renew permits of 26,000 taxis.
In April 2010, the government had decided to renew the permits that were cancelled for want of payment or renewal charges. By the time the PIL, which came up for its first hearing on Tuesday, was filed in June, about 2,000 permits were already renewed amidst allegations that authorities had charged Rs1 lakh for each permit as against the earlier rate of Rs50.
In an affidavit in the court, transport commissioner Dilip G Jadhav denied that authorities had charged an exorbitant amount, and said the petition was misconceived and did not disclose any cause of action against the department.
Ashok M Saraogi, the petitioners’ advocate, said, “The transport department had renewed all the permits between April and June, for which they had charged Rs1 lakh. But they reduced the charges to Rs100 soon after we filed the PIL.”
The petitioners have stressed in their appeal that if the permits are renewed, the city will be flooded with vehicles and existing taxi drivers would not be in a position to make enough money to sustain the business. “Also, if the permit charges are increased from Rs50 to Rs1 lakh, the entire business would be captured by corporate houses,” the petition stated.
The union also argued in the court that there was no dearth of public transport in the city, especially when Mumbaikars will soon have the luxury of travelling in monorail and metros. “Blocking the roads further seems absolutely unjustified. About 1,000 vehicles hit the roads every day. How will the roads accommodate 26,000 newcomers?” Saraogi said.
The next hearing in the case is on October 13.
