NEW DELHI: The Delhi government plans to reintroduce the City Taxi Scheme with added features to bring all kinds of radio taxis under one banner. The scheme was first announced in 2017 but could not take off.The government is also planning to cover auto-rickshaws under this scheme.
Sources said the government will bring all-economy radio taxi services, cabs, school buses and others under one platform and will operate them like private cab aggregators such as Ola and Uber. The transport department is preparing a draft of the scheme, which will be ready in three-four months.
Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot had talked about the scheme during a Facebook live interaction on June 13. “We will implement the scheme soon with added features. Last time, it could not be implemented due to some reasons. But, we are working on it and I hope the scheme will be launched soon,” he said.
Sources said guidelines will be prepared on how many persons can be accommodated in a cab, fare per km and other aspects. An app will also be launched where all the vehicles will be added so that people can book the government-registered vehicles.
Several registered taxi and cab unions in the capital have demanded the scheme for a long time. Currently, people use private aggregators’ services due to which the other cab services like ‘kaali-peeli’ (black and yellow taxis) and radio taxis suffer losses.
“The government should keep the cab and taxi unions in the loop,” said Sanjay Samrat, president of Delhi Taxi and Tourist Transport Associations. “Currently, Ola and Uber earn the maximum even though there are no guidelines for cab drivers’ working hours. The company does not take any responsibility in case of any untoward incident. If the government implements the scheme, the cab drivers will be benefited and safety and security of passengers will be better managed,” said Samrat.
City fleet of cabs
6,000 Yellow & black cabs
80,000 Economy cabs (Ola & Uber, approx)
2,000 Radio taxis (approx)
20,000 Tourist cabs in city