Is Mumbai ready for the golden ride?
It’s not even 10 ‘o’ clock, the sun isn’t beating down just yet, but Shuklaji is giving out solar flares. “If the cool cabs didn’t work, how will these taxis?
By TNN |
MUMBAI: It’s not even 10 ‘o’ clock, the sun isn’t beating down just yet, but Shuklaji is giving out solar flares. “If the cool cabs didn’t work, how will these taxis? Who is going to pay such a high fare?” He says letting loose a few choice words that only the ancient Egyptians or the Greek legends would have found acceptable.
“People can’t afford a Rs 13 and additional Rs 8 per km, forget the new scheme’s initial Rs 15 and additional Rs 13 per km.” Shuklaji is raging against the machines; the new gold taxis being run by Mumbai Taxi Company, to be precise. He doesn’t think taxi drivers like him can eke out a better living with the new cabs.
He suspects a foreign hand behind his troubles. “Saheb, we are poor people, these government officials go for trips abroad and think up fancy ideas. None think about us,” he says. And he is right about this one. “The business model is hybrid and borrowed from different places like Singapore and the UK, it has been customised for Mumbai’s needs,” says Ankit Shah, MD, Mumbai Taxi Company (MTC), the SPV that runs the service.
The UK has a similar model operational for private cabs, where the private player acts as a booking agency between the car owner and the passenger and gets paid a commission for his services on a monthly basis. But it is the Singapore model that comes closest to the Mumbai service.
It includes dedicated taxi terminals and connectivity via GPS. CityCab, Comfort Transportation, Yellow-Top Cab are some of the private players running taxis in Singapore, where ComfortDelgro Corporation owns majority stakes in most of the taxi services.
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Mahender Gupta drove the black and yellow earlier, but has now switched to the gold cabs. He is sure that this is the way to go. “The customer is willing to pay for comfortable and good-looking taxis,” he says. Is he joking? Doesn’t he know that cool cabs failed? “They failed because of the call centre was mismanaged, not because people did not want to use them,” he says.To Shuklaji the corporatisation is no less than an attempt to enslave the free-spirited taxi drivers. “We have the freedom and the liberty to work any number of hours as one wants.” In spite of this, most cab drivers just managed to survive. Mr Gupta understands that.
“It’s not all about money, sir, life is also meant to be lived well. Having a comfortable taxi with satellite connection, electronic meter, air condition and a uniform was a dream for poor people like us, but now this service has helped us in achieving that.”
The investment in connectivity and payment options will be crucial for the likes of Gupta. The MTC is putting in Rs 700 crore and hopes to generate revenues of Rs 70 lakh annually — at Rs 23,400 per cab — once it puts 500 cabs on the streets by December.
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It will be three years before the project breaks even. Gold cabs are more expensive. For 10 km a gold cab will cost Rs 132, while the old cab will cost Rs 90. “This cost difference will be vital,” feels S Sriraman, professor, Walchand Hirachand Unit in Transport Economics at the University of Mumbai.Luckily for MTC and Mr Gupta, business is coming their way. “We are already getting more than 20 calls a day, even before we have started, and with only 30 taxis. I am sure that under this scheme we will earn around Rs 700-800 a day,” says Mr Gupta.
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But this technology bit doesn’t cut any ice with Shuklaji. “This modern technology is all ‘khit-phit’, we don’t know how to use them, if something goes wrong, the company will blame us,” he adds. Doesn’t it a fact that maintenance, all the taxes and insurance will be taken care of by the company? Shuklaji looks puzzled as he refuses another passenger looking to ride a short distance. “Please leave us alone and allow us to live,” he says.
Ashish Mishra & Ritwik Donde
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