Wheels of change promise smoother cab drive
Mumbai: From specially-designed vehicles for the old and the
wheelchair-bound to special services for children and working women, taxi
services in the city are undergoing a sea change. Some companies are
planning taxi cards which can be sold to larger corporations, whose staff
frequently travel in the city. The next few months may also see pre-paid
taxis services at railway stations.
There are two cab firms, Gold Cab Service and V Link, already operating
in the city and others are scheduled to hit the roads soon. Among them are
Smart Cabs and Mega Cabs. Gold Cab Service, run by Arun Sabnis, is eyeing
the niche market. “I will continue to have Marutis for my regular cab
service but for the luxury segment, I’ll introduce Toyota Corollas and
Innovas,” says Sabnis, who began his service last September.
Sabnis, who was the first to launch the new taxi service, already has
several vans designed for physically-challenged people and will soon launch
a special service for senior citizens and children.”Ferrying schoolchildren
will soon catch on,” says Sabnis, adding that with the number of working
parents growing in the city his service will fill the need for a safe mode
of commuting for kids.
There is already a special taxi service for working women. Senior
citizens are also another target group. Sabnis said elderly citizens, who
dread the prospect of visiting friends because of the rigours of travelling
in a crowded train, can book a taxi in advance and comfortably travel to
their destination.
Managing director of V Link Taxis Neeraj Gupta said once his company has
1,000 taxis, it will target major corporations.”We will sell them swipe
cards which can be used in our taxis and the bills will be forwarded to them
at the end of the month. This will be useful for companies with a huge
staff,” he said.
In future, pre-paid taxis will not only be available from the airport
but also from railway terminals and a few important stations. The Road
Transport Authority is pushing an idea which will entail launch of prepaid
schemes at CST, Mumbai Central, Bandra, Kurla and Dadar railway terminus. If
successful they will be extended to other stations. However, the problem
here is getting parking space near the station.