After a Kurla mall turned away a family that arrived in its auto, as first reported in mid-day, we conducted a special drive and put other malls to test. Here’s what we found...
Our reporter poses as a taxi driver and drives in to SoBo Central, where he is turned away by the security guard. Pic/Datta Kumbhar
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Mumbai’s malls have something for everyone, but not if you’re a rickshaw or taxi driver. Days after mid-day named and shamed a swanky mall in Kurla for refusing entry to an auto driver and his family, our reporters decided to test whether other places were similarly biased. What did we find? Turns out, quite a few malls are coloured by prejudice when it comes to our black-and-yellow drivers.
R-City Mall
mid-day highlighted the prejudice against auto and taxi drivers a week ago, with a report on the ordeal of a Bandra-based auto driver and his family after they arrived at Phoenix Market City in Kurla in their own auto rickshaw. The family was humiliated by the mall authorities, who refused to let them park their vehicle in the mall premises (‘Mall in soup after turning back family that arrived in auto’, October 31).
R-City Mall
The front-page report gained considerable traction on social media and among auto and taxi drivers in the city, following which, the mall authorities reserved a special parking zone for auto drivers who wish to shop there.
K-Star mall
But what about other malls in the city; are they as welcoming of our cabbies and rickshaw wallahs? Over the weekend, our reporters, Shiva Devnath and Faisal Tandel, posed as taxi and auto drivers and visited several malls to find the answer to this question.
R Mall
Read Story: Family in auto turned back: Kurla mall changes parking policy overnight
Out of the eight malls we visited, our reporters found welcome at four. A fifth mall eventually did allow entry, but only after arguing for half an hour, at which point they likely realised the ‘driver’ was a news reporter.
Vijay Kumar Yadav, Shiva Devnath and Faisal Tandel
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