Click to play videoMumbai: In a tiny nondescript office a golden dream has been hatched- to create cabs with a global positioning system.
And this might change the way many Mumbaikars travel in the cramped city of 15 million people, as they will have an option to travel in style and luxury.
The NGO, Fullora Foundation has started the Mumbai Gold Taxi Company and it will be spending over 300 crore rupees.
It also plans to put 600 cabs on the road by the year-end. And that's a small fraction of the over 30,000 black and yellow cabs that dot the streets.
However, the company hopes that soon many regular cab owners will surrender their old vehicles to them in exchange of money and better insurance plans.
“The existing taxi drivers who walk in with their black and yellow old cabs will get new taxis like Indigo Marina, Maruti Esteem, Lancer or even Innova in return,” says Arun Sabnis of Mumbai Gold Taxi Company.
However, at the moment the scheme is getting mixed reactions.
“Those taxis are expensive, people don’t board them,” says a taxi driver.
“I don’t know whether the taxis will work but the meters will definitely not work,” says a resident.
“There are chances that the taxis will run because the pockets of the Mumbai residents will allow them to. The AC taxis will be successful,” says another resident.
However, the cabs will have a flag down fare of Rs 15 compared to Rs 13 for normal taxis.
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