Taxis in India - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Most of the traditional taxicabs of India are either Premier Padmini

Premier Padmini

'Premier Padmini' was an automobile manufactured in India from 1967 to 2000.Premier Automobiles Limited, the erstwhile flagship company of India's Walchand Hirachand Group, assembled Fiat's Fiat 1100 cars from the 1950s until 1997...

or Hindustan Ambassador

Hindustan Ambassador

The Hindustan Ambassador is a car manufactured by Hindustan Motors of India. It has been in production since 1958 with few modifications or changes and is based on the Morris Oxford III model, first made by the Morris Motor Company at Cowley, Oxford in the United Kingdom from 1956 to 1959.Despite...

cars. In recent years, cars such as Maruti Esteem, Maruti Omni, Mahindra Logan

Dacia Logan

The Dacia Logan is a small family car car produced jointly by the French manufacturer Renault and its subsidiary Dacia of Romania. It is manufactured at Dacia's automobile plant in Mioveni, Romania, and in Colombia, Brazil, Russia, Morocco, Iran, India and South Africa...

, Tata Indica

Tata Indica

The Tata Indica is a hatchback automobile range manufactured by Tata Motors of India. It is the first passenger car from Tata Motors and is also considered India's first indigenously developed passenger car. , more than 910,000 Indicas were produced. The annual sales of Indica has been as high as ...

and Tata Indigo

Tata Indigo

-Indigo Sedan :In 2002, Tata introduced India's competitive indigenous sedan: the Indigo. Designed in-house, it is a sedan version of the Tata Indica, with which it shares a large number of parts. Launched with a Turbodiesel and Petrol engines, An intercooled 'TDI' Engine, and Dicor engines were...

have become fairly popular among taxicab operators. The livery of the taxicabs in India varies from state-to-state. In Delhi and Maharashtra, most taxicabs have yellow-black livery while in West Bengal, taxis have yellow livery. Private taxicab operators are not required to have a specific livery. However, they are required by law to be registered as commercial vehicles.

According to Government of India

Government of India

The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...

regulations, all taxicabs are required to have a fare-meter installed. However, enforcement by authorities is lax and many cabs operate either without fare-meter or with defunct ones. In such cases, fare is decided by bargaining between the customer and the driver. Taxicabs face stiff competition from auto rickshaws but in some cities, for example Mumbai, auto-rickshaws are banned in the main city district, thus giving taxicabs a monopoly

Monopoly

A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...

Taxicabs

In India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, most taxicabs, especially those in Delhi

Delhi

Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

and Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

, have distinctive black and yellow liveries with the bottom half painted black and upper half painted yellow. In Kolkatta, most taxis are painted yellow with a blue strip in the middle. Private companies operating taxis can have their own liveries but need to get them approved from the government.
Taxis and all other commercial vehicles have a yellow number plate so charging taxes and toll in highways is easier for the officials. Delhi

Delhi

is the only city in India with taxicabs running only on Compressed Natural Gas

Compressed natural gas

Compressed natural gas is a fossil fuel substitute for gasoline , diesel, or propane/LPG. Although its combustion does produce greenhouse gases, it is a more environmentally clean alternative to those fuels, and it is much safer than other fuels in the event of a spill...

. To hail a taxicab, you normally just wait on the street or go to locations called taxi stands. Taxicabs are referred to as taxis in India and the word cab is rarely used.

Taxicabs in India are mostly Premier Padmini

Premier Padmini

or Hindustan Ambassador

Hindustan Ambassador

cars but newer ones are mostly Tata Indigo

Tata Indigo

(specially in the big cities). They have a yellow-black livery, and taxicab drivers paint many signs and slogans such as God is Great etc. Most of these cabs do not have an air conditioning system but there are numerous private taxi operators like "Cool Cab" are air-conditioning.The newer taxis are white, one of the many reasons why the expensive taxis have been dubbed White Taxis by the locals in cities.Taxis and all other commercial vehicles have a yellow number plate so charging taxes and toll in highways is easier for the officials.

Depending on the city/state, taxis can either be hailed or are hired from taxi-stands. In cities such as Bangalore

Bangalore

Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...

, taxis need to be hired from taxi stands, whereas in cities like Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

and Mumbai

Mumbai

, taxis can be hailed on the street. There are additional surcharges for luggage, late-night rides and toll taxes are to be paid by the passenger. Thanks to the booming economy but due to disparities in income many types of taxis have come up. For example in Delhi

Delhi

there are 5 types of taxi. Autorickshaws- which are the cheapest form of taxi-, Normal Taxis, Radio Cabs, White Taxis and Tourist Taxis. In posher areas like Noida and Gurgaon auto rickshaws are banned thus giving the taxis a monopoly.Chandigarh

Chandigarh

Chandigarh is a union territory of India that serves as the capital of two states, Haryana and Punjab. The name Chandigarh translates as "The Fort of Chandi". The name is from an ancient temple called Chandi Mandir, devoted to the Hindu goddess Chandi, in the city...

also has a well established system of modern radio cabs using cars like Tata Indigo/Indigo marina, Fiat Siena and Maruti Esteem.

Taxis face stiff competition from auto rickshaws but in some cities, for example Mumbai, auto rickshaws are banned in the main city district, thus giving taxis a monopoly

Monopoly

A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...

Shared taxicab

In cities and localities where taxis are expensive or do not ply as per the government or municipal regulated fares, people use Share taxi

Share taxi

A share taxi is a mode of transport that falls between taxis and conventional buses. These informal vehicles for hire are found throughout the world. They are smaller than buses, and usually take passengers on a fixed or semi-fixed route without timetables, usually leaving when all seats are filled...

s. These are normal taxis which carry one or more passengers travelling to destinations either en route to the final destination, or nearby the final destination. The passengers are charged according to the number of people with different destinations. A similar system exists for autorickshaws, known as Share autos.

As one example, "Shared taxis" - and known just as that – have been operating in Mumbai

Mumbai

, India, since the early 1970s. These are more like a point to point service that operates only during the peak hours. During off peak hours, they ply just like the regular taxis, can be hailed anywhere on the roads, and passengers are charged by the meter. But in order to bridge the gap between demand and supply, during peak hours, several of them operate as Shared Taxis, taking a full cab load of passengers to a more or less common destination. The pick-up points for these taxis are fixed, and are marked by a post that says, “Shared Taxis” and cabs line up at this point during peak hours. They display the general destination they are headed for on their windscreens, and passengers just get in and wait for the cab to fill up. As soon as this happens - which takes less than a couple of minutes - the cab moves off. Fares are a fixed amount – fixed between the Taxi Unions and the authorities for the point to point distance - and are far lower than the metered fare to the same destination, but higher than the bus or train fare. Time taken is obviously much less than that by bus. These taxis are very popular because of the lack of waiting time, faster journey speeds, greater comfort, and absence of the crush loads of peak hour commuter traffic in buses and trains. Generally, the taxi drivers choose the locality that they live in, in the suburbs as the destination in the evenings, and in the mornings, the destinations are always the CBD in South Mumbai."

Motorcycle taxicabs

Motorcycle taxicabs are a licensed form of transport in Goa

Goa

Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...

, India

India

. They are much cheaper than other taxis, although the lone passenger can only carry a backpack

Backpack

A backpack is, in its simplest form, a cloth sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders, but there can be exceptions...

as luggage

Luggage

Baggage is any number of bags, cases and containers which hold a traveller's articles during transit.Luggage is more or less the same concept as "baggage", but is normally used in relation to the personal luggage of a specific person or persons Baggage is any number of bags, cases and containers...

. Motorcycle taxis in Goa are driven by men called 'pilots'. By law, in some parts of the state, the rider is expected to wear a helmet, but the pillion-rider is not. These motorcycle taxis can normally be identified by their yellow-and-black coloured paint. The fare should be fixed in advance, and the rides are not metered.

Taxicabs in Mumbai

Taxicabs arrived in 1911 to complement horse wagons. The black and yellow Fiat

Fiat

FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...

taxis in Mumbai, are integral part of the city's heritage and have been depicted in numerous Bollywood

Bollywood

Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

movies. These metered taxis ply throughout Mumbai

Mumbai

and have monopoly from Bandra to Churchgate

Churchgate

Churchgate is an area in downtown South Mumbai. During the eighteenth and up to the mid 19th century, Bombay was a walled city. The city walls had three gates, and Church Gate, named after St. Thomas Cathedral, Mumbai was one of the gates. The gate was situated near the present day location of...

on the Western line and Sion

Sion, India

Sion is a suburb of Mumbai. The Marathi name for Sion is शीव , which means boundary or limit. In the 17th century the village formed the boundary between Mumbai and Salsette Island.- History :...

to Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus on the Central line. Beyond Sion

Sion, India

and Bandra auto rickshaws are not allowed and one has to hire a taxi. However, between Sion

Sion, India

to Thane

Thane

Thane , is a city in Maharashtra, India, part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, northeastern suburb of Mumbai at the head of the Thane Creek. It is the administrative headquarters of Thane district. On 16 April 1853, G.I.P...

and Bandra to Bhayandar, Taxis and autorickshaws ply. A mechanical meter decides the fare and is proportional to the distance traveled.

Number of taxiscabs: About 52,000-55,000.

Recently Radio cab services have been introduced by some private companies. These taxis are brand new air-conditioned cars fitted with GPS and electronic metres. Fare is same as that of Cool Cabs. Presently operated by Four companies: EasyCabs(Silver), Meru (Green Silver), Gold cabs (Yellow Red) and Mega cabs (Black). However these taxis need to be booked in advance by calling their callcentre number.

Recetly the police revealed that it is required by law that the driver of an unengaged taxi take you to where you want to go, distance and time regardless. If the driver does not comply, one simply needs to call the police (dial 100) and mention the taxi's license number and the driver's name. The act of calling the police on your cell phone usually makes the driver comply with your request to be taken to your destination.

The city of Mumbai will soon be the first city in India

India

, to have an "in-taxi" magazine, titled MumBaee

MumBaee

MumBaee is India's first in-taxi magazine, to be introduced in the taxicabs of Mumbai. It will be provided free of cost to members of the Mumbai Taximens’ Union....

, which will be issued to taxis which are part of the Mumbai Taximen's Union. The magazine is set to debut on the 13th of July, 2009.

Taxicabs in Delhi

Though easily available, taxis

Taxicab

A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...

are not an integral part of Delhi public transport. The Indian Tourism Ministry and various private owners operate most taxis. The Tourism Ministry grants private companies permits to operate taxis. Private hiring vehicle provider companies is a reliable and you trust like kreative travels taxi services and more...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.