City art gallery owner makes an example out of cheating cabbie to highlight need for a prepaid taxi stand at the domestic airport, NOW
City art gallery owner makes an example out of cheating cabbie to highlight need for a prepaid taxi stand at the domestic airport, NOW
Adil Gandhy is more at home selling works by top-rung artists like Paresh Maitys and Ganesh Pynes than taking up civic issues. But the owner of the well-known Chemould Art Gallery at Princess Street decided to change that when a cabbie overcharged him for a commute back from Santacruz airport to his home in Bandra recently.
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Through this action, Gandhy wants to hammer home the need for a prepaid taxi stand at Santacruz airport.
Gandhy, who is still furious about the incident, said, "On May 21, at 8.15 pm, a friend and I took a taxi from the domestic airport taxi stand to my home at Bandstand."
Since he flies out of Mumbai several times a year and usually takes a taxi back home, he knows the fare averages around Rs 80. That day, however, said Gandhy, "The meter read Rs 14.50 and the driver of cab no: MH-03-F 6208 asked for over Rs 200.
"I have been cheated before and was, therefore, aware of what might happen. I saw him make a double turn when we boarded the taxi, which made me suspicious. Then when we saw the fare, I knew we had indeed been taken for a ride."
Letter is better
After some arguments Gandhy finally gave the driver Rs 100, which he said was more than what the fare would have been if the meter had not been tampered. "The driver knew we had caught him lying, so he did not argue. He simply took the Rs 100 and drove off in a huff."
But Gandhy refused to let the matter rest. The next morning he called a traffic police telephone number to fight the cheating cabbie. "The police asked me to email my complaints to jcptraffic@trafficpolicemumbai.org and I have done that," he said.
The art connoisseur now hopes that his complaint leads to some kind of action.
"I hope there is some investigation. It may seem like a trivial matter, but I think we need to fight cabbies who disgrace our city by looting the public and hapless foreign tourists," he said, reinforcing once more that a prepaid taxi stand is the need of the hour at Santacruz airport.
Impasse
The wait for a pre-paid taxi service at the Santacruz airport goes on. According to A L Quadros, general secretary of the Mumbai Taximen's Union, 'The Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL) wants to run the pre-paid taxi service at the domestic airport. That is unacceptable, as the MIAL is a contractor. What is their locus standii? They will leave the airport and then what would be the fate of these pre-paid taxis? We want that the pre-paid cab service be controlled by the police or the RTO or both jointly.'
The MIAL spokesperson rubbishes Quadros's claim saying, 'We are operators at the airport and our job is to operate and modernize the airport. We are going to be at the airport for the next 30 years at least. We have had discussions about the prepaid cab service with the taxi union since two years, but have failed to come to any solution. We do not want to run the pre-paid cab service and make money from it. In fact, it is the taxi union that is continuously shifting its stance. We have only one interest that the passenger can avail of this hassle-free service at the earliest, so the problem of overcharging is solved.'u00a0u00a0u00a0
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