Mumbai old cabs get 6 more months to fix roof-top indicators

The transport authority for MumbaiMetropolitan Region has decided to defer by six months theimplementation of its decision to install roof-top indicatorson taxis registered before January 31, 2020, an official saidon Friday.

The new date for installing colour-coded roof-topindicators on old taxis has been extended till July 1, 2021from the earlier date of January 1, 2021, the transportdepartment official said.

In a recent meeting, the Mumbai Metropolitan RegionTransport Authority (MMRTA), chaired by Maharashtra transportsecretary, took this decision in view of the COVID-19pandemic.

The official said that due to the pandemic, only oneof the three manufacturers have made their roof-top indicatorsavailable in the market.

''Hence, it could lead tothe shortage of theseindicators in the market, which could result in rising blackmarketing complaints,'' he said.

The colour-coded indicators, which would signal if thecab is free or occupied, are expected to bring down therampant ride refusals by drivers.

The state transport department has made roof-topindicators for new 'black-and-yellow' taxis and 'silver-blue'cool cab taxis registered in MMR from February 1, 2020.

The state government had also asked the respectiveregional transport authorities to decide the date of fixingthe indicators on cabs registered before January 31, 2020, intheir jurisdictions.

Acting on it, in last June, the MMRTA had decided tomake roof-top indicators mandatory for old taxis (registeredbefore January 2020 end) at the time of annual fitnesscertificate renewal from January 1, 2021.

The indicators will have green, red and white colouredLED lights.

As per the government notification issued in December2019, the taxi with the green light on would indicate it isavailable for ferrying passengers, red would mean the cab isoccupied and white would show that it is unavailable forhiring.

Apart from the LED lights, the indicators will haveletters 'For Hire', 'Hired' and 'Off Duty', in English as wellas Marathi languages.

According to the notification, the rooftop indicatorfor black-and-yellow taxis should be cream yellow in colour,while the same for fleet taxis should be blue or silver.

Letters on the rooftop indicators of taxis should beeither on front or on both front and rare sides for clear andbetter viewing, it said.

Mumbai has over 40,000 black-and-yellow and silverand blue taxis, but other cities in MMR like Thane, Vasai-Virar, Kalyan, Navi Mumbai and Panvel have very few cabs.

The project, proposed in 2012, gained momentum inJanuary 2014 when the transport department issued a draftnotification inviting suggestions and objections from people.

It was delayed for five years due to the languageissue, with former transport minister Diwakar Raote suggestingthat letters in Marathi be also put up on the indicators.