MiD DAY Test Drive, week 3, day 3: Better days ahead

As commuters become aware, cabbies not only ply, but also keep their meters in correct position

As commuters become aware, cabbies not only ply, but also keep their meters in correct position

There is a considerable drop in the number of offendersu00a0refusing fare in the five locations that had got maximum complaints earlier, in the third week of the campaign. 45 offenders were fined yesterday. While cabbies are making a point to keep the meters in the right position when they are not on duty and rarely refusing fare, commuters are coming forward to register complaints.

OH, UPARWALEY! Mohammed Mustafa asks for divine intervention, as constable Ravindra Bodke fined him for refusing a fare yesterday. Pic/Satyajit Desai

Here's what we foundu00a0

Reporter: Sayed Roshan
Place: Dadar
Time: 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm
Offenders caught: 1
Most of the time, when the cabbies are caught, they plead with the cops. But at Dadar we saw an amusing sight. Cabbie Mohammed Mustafa, when penalised, said, "Uparwaale,u00a0 agar meri galti hai toh mujhe apang banade, aur agar hawaldar ki galti hai toh use banade."

Ravindra Bodke, the traffic constable, chuckled in response, and said, "This is the first time in my life that I have seen a taxi driver asking God to curse me, whereas it was his fault because he refused a fare to Mumbai Central."

Reporter: Ramkumar Iyer
place: Sion
Time: 9 Am to 11.30 Am And 5 Pm to 7.30 Pm
Offenders Caught: 7
It has come to light that commuters prefer not to hire taxis from the stand at Sion, because of the refusals. "We never try asking taxis in the stand as they almost always refuse us. We mostly hire taxis from the main road," said a commuter Eshwar Kaur.

In another case of runaway cabbies, a taxi (No MH-01-J-579) that was spotted by one of the cops refusing a commuter, almost ran into two cars to escape the penalty. The number of the taxi was however captured by our photographer, and consequently the taxi was labeled as absconding by the RTO official present.

Reporter: Mritunjay Kumar
place: Churchgate
Time: 5.30 pm to 7 pm
Offenders caught: 1
The taxi stand at Churchgate was empty, all the cabbies were accepting to ply to anywhere a passenger wished. Later, one cabbie Lalchand Tiwari refused a fare to Colaba, even when the meter position was up 'For Hire'.

When the RTO officer Prashant Ingawale booked him, he said, " I was just going to return the cab to its owner."

Reporter: Bipin Kokate
place: High street phoenix
Time: 5:30 pm to 7 pm
Offenders caught: 8
On Monday, children and women commuters came forward to register complaints against errant taxi drivers. It continued yesterday as well.

With the highest number of offenders registered in the starting days of the campaign in this area, the number has come down gradually. However two drivers tried bribing the cops.

Reporter: Shailesh Bhatia
place: Bandra Station
and SV Road
Time 10 am to 1.15 pm
and 2 pm to 8 pm
Offenders caught: 28
Yesterday, many errant cabbies were caught and fined by the RTO and the personnel from the Bandra Traffic police near the railway station and the adjacent main road.

u00a0"After last Thursday, we impounded yet another cab, as the driver did not haveu00a0 valid documents or a badge.

Even so, he had the cheek to refuse a short distance fare. We will still give him a chance to bring his original cab papers, pay the fine or take his taxi away," stated RTO official, Raj Narain Dwivedi, who has been with the MiD DAY team from day one of the campaign.

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.