Hyderabad: Cab drivers root for taxi stands in city

Hyderabad : Though the Hyderabad city traffic police take various measures to ensure the smooth flow of traffic and road safety, the demand for taxi/cab stands by the drivers remains unfulfilled. The Motor Cab Driver unions have put forth a demand to set up taxi stands across Greater Hyderabad. Though over 1.25 lakh aggregators and app-based cabs are running in Greater Hyderabad, there are no taxi stands in the city.

According to Telangana State Taxi and Drivers Joint Action Committee, there were over 170 stands in the twin cities, but only about a couple are left now. All the taxi stands were removed in the past nine years and the traffic police have failed to address drivers’ grievances or to respond to the long-pending demand for taxi stands in Greater Hyderabad.

JAC strongly urged officials of GHMC, RTA and Traffic police to hold a joint survey and undertake a detailed study of all taxis/cabs running on city roads including app-based cabs, and cabs working with tours and travels in consultation with the Telangana State Taxi and Drivers JAC. The survey should assess the spaces for parking near city roads so that parking stands can be set up.

Shaik Salauddin, a member of JAC said, “The union urged the authorities to provide parking stands every 5 km for at least 5 cabs or taxis for the to wait for the passengers and rest between trips. Each parking stand should be equipped with facilities for drinking water and restrooms,” he added.

Further, the JAC urged showrooms, hotels, cineplexes, and shopping malls to provide free parking for taxis, as well as access to drinking water and toilets. The JAC gave a memorandum to the Deputy commissioner of police, Traffic-1 regarding the same, said Salauddin.

Drivers said, when they pick or drop a passenger from the location on the app or park their vehicle briefly outside a public restroom, they often receive an e-challan for no parking. The e-challans impose penalties of Rs 1000 to Rs 5,000, penalising them for being on the location requested by the customer, or for using a public restroom.

JAC further requested the authorities to install boards for speed limit and no parking zones to avoid problems of over speeding and e-challans.

They also urged the authorities to take firm action against other state vehicles from Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Delhi which are plying illegally in the city.