MUMBAI: Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik on Monday reiterated that his department will start taking action against non-Marathi auto and taxi drivers who fail to communicate in Marathi with passengers. Sarnaik said his department re-issued the 1989 notifications, making Marathi mandatory for all taxi and auto drivers, on May 1, 2026.
“But some demanded that non-Marathi auto and taxi drivers be given enough time to learn Marathi. So, we had given the August 15 deadline to learn the Marathi language. It has been 105 days since this decision.
We hope that taxi and auto drivers have learned Marathi during this period and are ready to communicate in Marathi with their passengers,” Sarnaik said. He said action would be taken by the RTO against drivers who fail to speak Marathi after August 15, under the rule.
“We do not want to hear that the given time was not enough. In 105 days, as per our records, more than one lakh non-Marathi auto and taxi drivers enrolled in Marathi classes. We engaged over 1,100 private teachers and spent over `1 crore on this exercise. The Marathi language department and Marathi literary committee also extended assistance in this exercise,” the minister said.
He said that despite their effort, some errant and arrogant auto and taxi drivers do not want to learn Marathi, saying they will continue to speak Hindi and no one will do anything against them.
“We want to make clear that action against these errant drivers will be taken. We will not spare them. The rule of law has to be followed. The decision to learn Marathi was taken 36 years ago, and despite that, some people do not want to learn. That means they are adamant and do not want to follow the law. Therefore, action would be taken against them as per the law only,” Sarnaik said.