Commuters may see fewer taxis on the road in the next couple of months as the RTO has issued only 900 permits of the total 7,800 permits.
Commuters may see fewer taxis on the road in the next couple of months as the RTO has issued only 900 permits of the total 7,800 permits. This would soon be a major inconvenience for Mumbaikars, said union leader A.L. Quadros.
Mr Quadros who heads he Mumbai Taximen Union (MTU) said that the RTO officials have been asking for bribes up to Rs 30,000 from drivers who cannot afford it.
The exasperated drivers had walked down to Tardeo RTO on Tuesday with a blank check, challenging the officials to write down any amount so as long as they were no longer harassed.
“Back in 2014 around 9,000 permits were allotted to those drivers who had applied for a permit in a lucky draw in the presence of CM Devendra Fadnavis. It has been 15 months now but only 900 have been given out. The greedy RTO officials are withholding the permits unless drivers cough up Rs 30,000 as bribe,” said Mr Quadros.
The RTO official had refused to accept the cheque submitted by the union.
The union leader also said that of the the four RTOs in the city, the one at Wadala has given out 700 permits while the Tardeo office has given out 200.
“The offices at Andheri and Borivali have not given out even a single permit so far. Why is the government not looking into this kind of blatant corruption ” he asked. The number of taxis on the roads has dropped from 50,000 to below 40,000 in the last two years as a result of the delay in issuing permits.
