March 1, 2014
All taxis in Kolkata to become “no refusal”
All yellow taxis in Calcutta must have “no refusal” inscribed in blue-bold caps across their rear doors just like the white-and-blue fleet, the West Bengal Government declared on February 28.
The notification aims to remove confusion among passengers over whether yellow taxis are at liberty to refuse passengers just because they don`t bear the words “no refusal”.
The transport department`s order states that “no refusal” shall be “inscribed in navy blue on the centre of the two rear doors of all yellow-coloured metered taxis”. The vehicle registration authorities have been asked to ensure strict compliance before issuing fitness certificates to yellow taxis.
Copies of the order, which takes immediate effect, will be on the notice boards at all offices of the public vehicles department and the regional transport authorities.
“There appears to have been some confusion about the two different categories of taxis because of the logo `no refusal`, though legally no taxi driver can refuse a passenger,” Transport Minister Madan Mitra said. “This notice should do away with the divide.”
Friday`s notification is an amendment to a February 2005 order that had made it mandatory for yellow taxis to have a blue border with the word “taxi” inscribed on two doors. According to the new directive, the transport department is required to ensure that the navy blue “no refusal” logos measuring 7×7 cm are inscribed in the middle of the two rear doors.
Calcutta has close to 20,000 yellow taxis and around 700 white-and-blue ones.
