Is Mumbai set to go the Delhi way? AC cabs at auto fare rates

A Delhi-based fleet taxi service that is being launched in the city next month is trying to push for a low-cost cab fare structure termed as ‘cabs at auto’s fare’, already prevalent in the country’s capital.

The new company, Arya Cabs, is scheduled to launch in January with a fleet of 100 cabs and later expand to 500 in a year. Right now, the city has a little over 2,400 radio taxis and about 40,000 black-and-yellow taxis plying on its streets.

On Wednesday, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Arya Cabs, V Gopalakrishnan, confirmed his company’s decision to launch a fleet cab service in the city. The car type of the company’s taxis will be Sedan and models being considered are Indigo, Accent or Logan.

Arya Cabs and the Delhi government recently surprised everybody by launching a first-of-its-kind low-fare radio taxi service which asks the commuter to pay only Rs10 per km for air-conditioned travel in an Alto car. This service is known as ‘Arya lite’ and it was introduced under a recently-introduced scheme of the Delhi’s transport department, as per which cars lower than 1,500cc were allowed to be used as radio taxis.

Maharashtra has a legislation as per which low-end cars have been barred from being used as radio taxis. According to many radio taxi service providers and commuters DNA spoke to, such a service has many takers.

“Our understanding tells us that most big cities of the world like London or Dubai have one taxi for about 285-300 people. But, in Mumbai, there is one taxi per 500, perhaps even 700. So, there is vast scope for growth,” Gopalkrishnan added. He rued the fact that the Maharashtra transport department had no scheme to facilitate the setting up of such a service.

A senior official from the Motor Vehicles Department, said, “We will have to first assess the commuter interest for the scheme. And, if it is found positive, then it (the scheme) can be taken up for consideration at the policy level.”

Meru Cabs CEO, Rajesh Puri, said, “We thought of introducing the service but postponed the plan, as the basic issues of (access to) permits and good drivers remain. We may get into it in the future.”