Many Mumbaikars have more than once strained their arms trying to flag down a taxi without success. People wonder at the audacity of cabbies for turning them down and cherry-picking commuters. The answer lies in numbers. There are just 30,000 taxis in the city for 20 lakh potential passengers. So when a taxiwallah turns down a commuter, he knows he’ll probably see 66 more during the day.

No permit: According to the general secretary of Mumbai Taximen’s Union, since 1997 over 22,000 taxi permits have been cancelled and many have not been renewed. Representation pic