Short-distance auto passengers find no takers at south Mumbai stations

Two railway stations in the city that welcome outstation passengers Dadar and Mumbai Central too lack prepaid taxi booths just as LTT Bandra Terminus and Borivli station in the suburbs At Dadar and Mumbai Central the booths have been nonfunctional for the past one year The only station that has been managing its prepaid booths well is CSMTThe prepaid taxi booth at Dadar on the Central Railway line is shut for over a year and taxi drivers have been haphazardly parking their vehicles outside the station causing severe traffic jams In the absence of a booth drivers even venture on to the platform to lure passengersThe prepaid booth area indicated in poster at top left at Mumbai Central is deserted PicBipin KokateAccording to the Railway Protection Force RPF Dadar action has been taken against 34 such taxi drivers in the lastoneyear Last month a passenger was charged Rs 2000 for a trip to Matunga from Dadar and he came to the RPF post later to complain We immediately called the driver who returned his money but the passenger did not wish to file a complaint so we let him go with a warning said an RPF officerWe have also asked station officials to make announcements when longdistance trains arrive warning passengers against falling for the drivers tricks he addedI had to go to Kalachowkie but the drivers avoid shortdistance passengers We instead get taxis near the Swami Narayan temple said another commuter Deepak SinghThe deserted prepaid taxi ramp at Dadar station PicSuraj OjhaHawkers occupy ramp for cabsThe railways have also built a ramp for taxi drivers to park their vehicles outside the station but the drivers often in a rush to secure passengers violate these rules and reach platforms railway officials saidA hall near the ticket booking counter is quite empty and open to all When trains arrive the drivers standing here immediately march towards the platform to approach passengers and retreat to the hall if they see police he addedPolice inspector Arvind Kale of Dadar East Traffic Division said We used to take action against 40 to 45 traffic law violators every day since the ramp made for taxi drivers is often occupied by hawkers We have written to the BMC a number of times too but no action has been taken to clear these premisesThe signboard still gives directions to a prepaid taxi stand at Mumbai Central stationNot by the meter at Mumbai CentralThe prepaid taxi booth at Mumbai Central doesnt function because no contractors have approached the railways for it informed officials at the station We have also put up a board urging passengers to follow the meter for their taxi rides he addedAccording to RPF Mumbai Central there is a taxi stand outside the station We dont allow them to go to the platform We have also deployed our staff here to who ensure that no passenger is harassed an RPF official saidInspector Shailendra Dhiwar of Mumbai Central GRP said that they hadnt received any complaints regarding overcharging so far A commuter who dont wish to be named however did have a complaint He said that the taxi drivers here do not ply by the meter They asked me to pay Rs 250 to Rs 300 to drop me to CSMT he said The problem is also that they do not agree to shortdistance trips and purposely demand a higher price to avoid passengers said another commuter Imran ShaikhNot a single complaint at CSMTCSMT station in South Mumbai was the one to please us though With a proper traffic management system CSMT RPF said that they hadnt received a single complaintA worker at the prepaid taxi booth here said that in with appbased cab services people book their cabs before arriving at the station But we still get over 50 bookings a day he saidInspector Ganpat Gondak at GRP CSMT said that his staff is deployed at the station entry to manage cab traffic Towards P DMello road there is a pay and park station so drivers park their vehicles there while they wait for passengers he saidNot all commuters are fans of the prepaid taxi system thoughDrCharu Jain a dentist said that prepaid taxis charge higher for short distances I asked them to drop me at Mazgaon and was asked to pay R180 whereas meter taxis charge just R60 Also no one is ready for shortdistance tripsDrivers avoid shortdistance passengersDeepak Singh CommuterI had to go to Kalachowkie but the drivers avoid shortdistance passengers We instead get taxis near the Swami Narayan templeACommuter at Mumbai Central stationTaxi drivers here do not ply by the meter They asked me to pay Rs 250 to Rs 300 to drop me to CSMTCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates