Kaali-peeli drivers in Mumbai oppose government’s plan to install GPS devices in cabs
The two biggest taxi unions of Mumbai have opposed the plan for black and yellow cabs if it puts a financial burden on their members.
The decision to install a Global Positioning System (GPS) has not gone well with the taxi unions.
The two biggest taxi unions of the city have opposed the plan for black and yellow cabs if it puts a financial burden on their members.
Mumbai Taximens Union and Mumbai Taxi Association have opposed the plan to install GPS citing additional expenses.
“The government has made speed governors mandatory for taxis and is now asking to install the GPS device. Who
will bear the financial burden?” questioned Prem Singh, leader of Mumbai Taxi Association.
Last week, Ranjit Patil, Minister of State for Home, said in the legislative assembly that conventional auto rickshaws and taxis will have to install GPS systems on the lines of app-based aggregators such as Ola and Uber, considering the safety of the passengers.
He was replying to the issue raised by the leader of opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil through a calling attention motion.
The government needed to ensure that black-and-yellow taxis and autorickshaws had devices that can help track them.
The government also wanted to install GPS in taxis and autorickshaws so that they could be tracked from the control room.
The unions, however, claimed that they had brought their own taxi booking app, through which most of their taxis could be tracked.
“There has not been a molestation in black and yellow taxis and therefore it is one of the safest transport modes for women,” said AL Quadros, leader of Mumbai Taximens Union.
He added that if the government wanted to install GPS in taxis, they should release funds under the Nirbhaya scheme.
The unions also slammed the state government, claiming that it completely failed to maintain law and order and controlling crimes in the city.
Mumbai has around 45,000 black and yellow taxis
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