Pay up, say private cabs to Mumbai's black-and-yellow taxis

If you are travelling to or from the airport you may want to reconsider booking radio cabs or those of mobile aggregators The kaalipeeli cabs could fare to be cheaper than these options The private AC cabbies charge additional sums from passengers to redeem the parking cost at the airport a cost that the kaalipeelis do not have to bear Wanting parity in rates private cabs are asking that kaalipeelis be charged similarlyAlso read Blackandyellow cabs want to take on Uber Ola with own mobile appThe fleet cabs have an understanding with the Mumbai International Airport Limited MIAL and pay Rs 60 per vehicle as lsquoparking chargesrsquo Recently even mobile aggregators like Uber and Ola have started asking passengers to cough up an additional parking charge of Rs 110 for plying people to the airportldquoWe have a separate parking lot for our vehicles This allows us to pick up passengers whenever needed with ease We feel even the blackandyellow taxis should be charged parking fee which would bring parityldquo said Rajesh Narad General Manager Marketing TabCabSources said that parking charges ensure that aggregators have been asked to park their vehicles inside the airport premises away from the arrival and departure gates in order to reduce traffic congestionldquoHowever these aggregators donrsquot park their vehicles and go out of the airport periphery yet they charge it from the passengers Thatrsquos a wrong practicerdquo said a MIAL official on condition of anonymity Even the passengers complain that these aggregators enter the airport and leave after picking up passengers and ask them to pay upThere are around 4500 radio cabs operating in Mumbai of which more than 30 per cent of them operate to and from the Mumbai airport both domestic and international The Multi Level Car Parking MLCP at T2 has 10 parking levels and covers a total area of 250000 square meters This would be the size of 35 fullsized football fields However taxis radio and fleet cabs are parked only at level 4 5 and 6 with each level having a capacity of around 500 cabs ldquoWe donrsquot have any parking problems at the airport as we pay for it We are provided with necessary infrastructure inside the airport premises itself that allows people to book it from within the terminalrdquo said Siddhartha Pahwa CEO Meru CabsAt the T2 passengers have to pay parking rates if the vehicle enters the airport periphery after crossing the toll Sources claim that when mobilebooked cabs arrive at the domestic terminal they request passengers to wait near Balaji Hotel if they wish to avoid paying the additional sum of Rs 110 However since this is a prefed input into their system Rs 110 gets automatically deducted from the passengerrsquos account or is asked by the driver to cough up the amountAlso read Soon pay at least Rs 90 when you call a fleet cabCurrently the black and yellow cabs enjoy a huge space for parking their cabs both at the domestic and international terminals of Mumbai airport As part of prepaid blackandyellow taxi services a passenger pays a 30 per cent higher fare than what a normal taxi would charge plus a service tax of Rs 20 and an additional sum for luggage This system was introduced so that taxi drivers dont fleece passengers with rigged meters ldquoWe are part of public transport So why should we pay additional money for parking our cabsrdquo said Guddu Singh City Taxi union leader