The decision follows recent retirement of the legendary red double-decker diesel buses operated by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking.

As per the announcement by a transport department official, the last Premier Padmini taxi was officially registered at the Tardeo Regional Transport Office (RTO), which oversees the island city of Mumbai.

Given that the city imposes a 20-year age limit for cabs, Mumbai will officially bid adieu to the Premier Padmini taxis from Monday onward; these taxis have been part of the transport system for six decades.

The simultaneous retirement of these two once-ubiquitous and integral modes of public transportation has left transportation enthusiasts in Mumbai deeply saddened. Some have even called for the preservation of at least one `Premier Padmini` on the road or in a museum.

A few years ago, the Mumbai Taximen`s Union, one of the city`s largest taxi driver unions, had appealed to the government to conserve at least one `kaali-peeli` (black-and-yellow) taxi but without success, as reported by PTI.

Mumbai currently boasts over 40,000 black-and-yellow taxis, although, in the late 1990s, the number stood at about 63,000, which included the air-conditioned "cool cabs" featuring a distinctive `blue and silver` colour scheme.