16 April,2010 07:32 AM IST | | Team Mid Day
Slowly, but surely, the campaign is showing results, as Mumbaikars take initiative, start filing complaints
In the second week of the campaign undertaken by MiD DAY-Radio One with the Mumbai Traffic Police, Regional Transport Office (RTO) and the taxi union, 33 offenders were booked. A positive change is that commuters are showing more interest in the campaign.
Here'su00a0what weu00a0found
Reporter: Roshan Rizvi
Place: Dadar
Time: 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm
Offenders caught: 5
After being booked, Harinath Mishra, a taxi driver, said, "I never refused. If I had stopped exactly where the passenger had signalled me, there would have been a traffic jam."
To this, Ashok Mhatre, the passenger who was refused, retorted, "He didn't stop, nor did he give any signal that he would." Ravindra Bodke, the constable who booked him, said, "Not stopping for the commuter means a refusal, so we fined him."
Reporter: Mritunjay Kumar
Location: CST
Time: 9:30 am to 11:30 am
Offenders caught: 2
When passengers came out from the station in the morning, virtually every cabbie was willing to take them to their respective destinations. But at 11 am ASI Suresh Walekar caught taxi driver A Akram for not taking a passenger to Nariman Point and for jumping the traffic signal.
Reporter: Shailesh Bhatia
Location Domestic Airport and Bandra (W)
Time: 5.30 pm - 7.30 pm
Offenders caught: 14
Nandlal Yadav (Taxi no MH01 J 3727), not only refused a short distance fare, but had no licence, badge or any document to prove that he was a valid driver in a valid vehicle. RTO officer Rahul Nalvade took the prompt decision of impounding the vehicle and booked the errant driver.
"The fineu00a0 would be around Rs 2,000, providedu00a0 that heu00a0 produces valid documents in the next 24 hours. In case he fails to do so, a stricter action and harsher fines would be imposed on him," said RTO officer Raj Narain Dewedi.
Reporter: Ramkumar Iyer
Location: Sion
Time: 9:00 am - 11:30 am and 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Offenders Caught: 10
The taxi stand near the Sion railway station was unusually empty, since most taxi drivers didn't refuse commuters, thanks to the campaign. They were actually cooperative and were in support of the campaign.
"Refusal is so prevalent in this area that it's given the honest cabbies a bad name. Rules should be enforced and wayward drivers should be punished," said Paras Jaiswal, a taxi driver.
"I have been driving taxis for over 31 years, and I've seen that cabbies wait in the sun for up to 4 hours at a stretch, in hope of getting a long distance fare. This campaign will do some good, these cabbies ought to be taught a lesson," said Surender Singh (65), another cabbie.
Reporter: Mritunjay Kumar
Location: Churchgate
Time: 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Offenders caught: 2
There is a noticeable fall in the number of errant drivers. But in the late evening, cabbie Shivraj Paswan was caught by PSI Avinash Kamble as he was not ready to ply a passenger to Churchgate station. Funnily, since he was caught for the second time, the cops penalised him for twice the amount.
Later, driver Sunil Dubey refused passenger Hemant Namdeo to ply to Marine Drive. The driver said, "My taxi needs repairs, and I need to refuel it as well."
To register your complaint Call 022-24937755
This is an exclusive number given by traffic police to MiD DAY readers to register
refuse-to-fare complaints.
You can also sms on the MiD DAY number -- 9769874236.
One can also log on to the special url created by MiD DAY with the traffic police, to file a complaint online on https://tpm.mid-day.com/
MiD DAY is running a special campaign to ensure that YOU no longer have to face these rude cabbies. Watch this space for our daily campaign.
You can also log on tou00a0u00a0www.trafficpolicemumbai.org
