Means of transport: Taxi. Seating capacity: Six in all. Rule: No smoking please. Does this statement mean anything to anyone??
Well yes it does! One of the most common modes of transport in town. Does it bother anyone that the drivers are not following the rules any regulations they provide??
Almost everyone in town commute around in taxis; it is always the same when it comes to picking up passengers. Not knowing or maybe ignoring the fact that there are already enough passengers to carry, the drivers would still stop for more.
It makes it very difficult for female passengers to sit in a cramped up taxi. Especially when all the passengers in it are all women.
Someone or the other has to sit next to the driver in the tiny extra seat. This makes the seating very uncomfortable and difficult. Everyone pays for their seat, so it is expected that the seating should be comfortable too; its not so. It’s still not known whether Government officials have commuted in a taxi before or lately, because they just seem to not care about this problem. Even as passengers complain about the seating, the drivers have failed to notice. They only seem to care about getting more people in it; as long as their pockets are filled, it’s always ‘ok’ with them.
It is evident in Shillong that the local taxis put in four passengers in the back seat and most of them are women. While the many passengers complain about the present seating capacity, these complains have seem to fallen on deaf ears. When government officials travelling back and forth in their comfortable SUVs and sedans, the rest who commute in taxis are stuck with small seating space in it. Is it worth the amount they pay?
Even when one hires a taxi to drop them off some place when they’re in a hurry or want to sit comfortably, the drivers would still take in passengers; with the excuse that “they are travelling in the same direction”. People would actually pay to travel comfortably, but it does not seem like the drivers care.
Few years back, only three passengers were allowed to sit in the back seat but later the decision was revised after the cabbies expressed their stiff opposition to the seating capacity.
Later, the Government allowed four people to sit behind and two in front including the driver.
However, the seating arrangement has not gone well with the women passengers who are packed like potato bags in a small car. When sitting in a cramped up taxi, one cannot even keep one’s foot properly.
A women passenger said, ” It is really very uncomfortable to sit in a vehicle. It makes us feel like cows and sheep as you will even have to hassle if someone gets a phone call”.
Earlier, the Government came up with the idea of women taxis, which failed to live up to its expectations as there were very few takers for the initiative.
It would have been far better if the Government passes a rule with three passengers in the back seat of the local taxis instead of bringing out the women taxis.
The seating problem becomes worst as night when the cabbies tend to make three people sit in the front seat including the driver. This make sitting very difficult, especially if all the passengers are women.
“It is a common trend at night as they would put six passengers,” another women said.
The drivers tend to over load with a reason that the prices of petrol are going up and even the taxi fares are low which compels them to over carry.
Apart from this act and excuse, they should also charge/hike the prices, with the same excuse.
The Government has to be very vigilant about this act. Every taxi must have a ‘charge sheet’ authorised by the Government if the prices are hiked whatsoever. A regular check must be carried out to curb these unwanted nuisance in public transport.
It may be mentioned that there are around four thousand five hundred local taxis in Shillong city.
Inputs from Aafaque Hussain, Nawaz Y Islam, Easter G Kharkongor