Goodbye iconic yellow cab? More than half of Kolkata fleet going off roads
Published On : 2024-11-25T08:21:04+0530 [ IST ] |
Author : Mayur_Tembhare
Reading Time : 2 mins
Home
Transport
None :
Almost 4,500 of Kolkata's 7,000-strong fleet of iconic yellow metered taxis are being taken off roads this year for having crossed their 15-year service limit in a measure that will reshape the city's
The yellow Ambassador taxi has been synonymous with Kolkata for decades now like the Howrahbridge and Victoria Memorial.Once the only kind of cab available in the city their popularity was already on the wane when app cabs entered the picture in 2015.
Most of the city's remaining 7,000 yellow metered taxis (at the beginning of 2024) were ageing vehicles with the state transportation department saying that 4,493 - or 64% - of them would be on the chopping block for having crossed the 15-year service limit.
In 2008 Calcutta High Courthad ruled that no commercial vehicle more than 15 years old could ply on the city roads. Following that once a vehicle attains this age limit one cannot renew its permit and fitness certificate.
Apart from the 4,493 metered yellow cabs that are being phased out another 2,500 such cars - predominantly D and E series Ambassadors - are due to be phased out throughout next year.
That would reduce the total number of metered yellow cabs to below 3,000.
Pre-Covid study found 18k yellow cabs in Kolkata.
A pre-pandemic study conducted in 2020 indicated there were around 18,000 yellow metered cabs on the city roads mainly because of the gradual phasing out of Ambassadors. Subsequent lockdowns and the mandated 15-year limit compounded the challenge for many cabbies
Sanjeeb Roy, joint secretary of the Bengal Taxi Association highlighted the financial strains on taxi operators citing the significant costs associated with acquiring newBS VI-compliant taxis which now cost upwards of Rs 8 lakh.
The taxi industry holds deep historical roots in Kolkata dating back to 1908 when fares were a modest 8 annas per mile. The introduction of the iconic yellow-and-black taxis in 1962 converted from Hindustan Motors' Ambassadors by the Calcutta Taxi Association quickly earned them the moniker "king of the roads
Source : Reporters From Sunrise Chronicles
Tags : citymodest 8 annas per mile , That , Highlighting , Almost , Kolkata , Ambassador , Rs , year000 yellow metered cabs , cabscovid study found 18k yellow cabs , Calcutta Taxi Association ,
Summary :
Almost 4,500 of Kolkata's 7,000-strong fleet of iconic yellow metered taxis are being taken off roads this year for having crossed their 15-year service limit in a measure that will reshape the cit
