MUMBAI:
In a relief to taxi drivers as well as passengers, the state transport department on Monday took charge of collating taxi drivers’ and providing them with a 16-digit unique identiy number (UIN) for their speed governors, resulting in them not getting a fitness certificate. Nearly half of the city’s kaali-peeli taxis were stranded at RTOs or roads for a month due to this.
Additional transport commissioner Bharat Kalaskar, who heads Tardeo RTO, confirmed this and said, “The drivers must submit relevant documents to us. We will verify and issue the 16-digit UIN.”
For the past few days, kaali-peeli taxis have been stranded at RTOs or roads waiting for a mandatory fitness certificate. This is because, in June, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways made it mandatory for speed governors to have a 16-digit UIN. This number is necessary when kaali-peeli cabbies apply for a fitness certificate and ‘passing’ of their vehicles with the RTOs, said sources. Taxis that are up to 8 years old must go through a fitness test every two years. After this, they must get it checked at the RTOs every year at the cost of ₹600. Continuing to ply on road while failing to do this can result in fines if caught by the traffic police. The taxis that are over 15 years old must pay a fine of ₹50 per day for delay. Fearing penalties, drivers chose to keep their taxis off the roads.
However ever since speed governors were installed in kaali-peeli taxis – which, according to the unions, began in 2017-18 – the UIN was an 8-12 digit code. Most of the cabs in the city have these. Sources said that RTOs asked the drivers to install a new speed governor, which costs more than ₹9,000, which is double what it used to be.
{{/usCountry}}However ever since speed governors were installed in kaali-peeli taxis – which, according to the unions, began in 2017-18 – the UIN was an 8-12 digit code. Most of the cabs in the city have these. Sources said that RTOs asked the drivers to install a new speed governor, which costs more than ₹9,000, which is double what it used to be.
{{/usCountry}}These details include the name of the driver/permit holder, vehicle number, old UIN number of the speed governor, and date of installation. “We have asked the drivers to send these details to us, which we are recording on our letterheads and submitting to the respective RTOs. We are trying to reach out to as many drivers as possible,” said Iqbal Singh, a member of the Mumbai Taxi Association.
The RTOs at Tardeo, Wadala, Andheri, and Borivali are registering these kaali-peeli taxis.
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