State Transport Authority meeting to decide on the issue was postponed on Monday
State Transport Authority meeting to decide on the issue was postponed on Monday
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THE comfortable Hyundai Santro black-and-yellow taxis and Hyundai Accent fleet taxis have been plying on the roads illegally, according to the State Transport Authority (STA),u00a0which seems to have suddenly woken up to the fact that it had not given these two models the required clearances.
A fortnight ago, the STA had issued instructions to Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) that Santro was not approved for use as taxis by them and registration of taxis of that model was stopped on February 22.
The State Transport Authority had asked Regional Transport Offices to stop registering Santros as taxis a fortnight ago.
STA officials were supposed to meet and decide on giving the required approval for the Santro on Monday, but the meeting was postponed.
"Like most companies, Hyundai, too, never wanted to sell the Santro for use as taxis thinking it would dent the image of its best-selling car.
However, the huge demand for new vehicles after old taxis began getting phased out in 2009 made the company rethink its strategy," said an officebearer of a taxi union.
A L Quadros, president, Mumbai Taximen's Association, said, "We have approached transport department officials and they have assured us that the approval will be granted soon.
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Taxi drivers should not be troubled for no fault of theirs and Hyundai has already approached the transport department for approvals on February 24."
"The company has approached the authorities for approval. It was just a procedural lapse and we should be getting an approval soon," said Rajiv Mitra, head of corporate communications at Hyundai.
Mitra also denied that there was ever a policy of not selling the Santro car to taxi drivers.
According to sources, the company had sought an approval for the Hyundai Accent cars to be used as fleet taxis last year itself. However, the same was not sought for Santro.
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It was only in 2009 that Hyundai decided to sell Santros as taxis (see box). Prior to that, only second-hand cars were available for conversion.
The STA has to approve any vehicle before it is registered as a taxi. Officials, however, are unsure how the department allowed the registration of Santro cars as taxis before the approval was granted.
State Transport Commissio-ner DJ Jadhav said "The company has applied for approval for both models. The matter will be decided soon."
4,000
The number of Santros plying as taxis in the city
400
Number of Hyundai Accent cars being used as fleet taxis
Special Offer
In April 2009, Hyundai Motor India Limited had launched a special offer for the Santro, which was made available at a special price of Rs 2,42,500 for use as taxis. Hyundai dealers had even begun providing the facility of colouring the cars black and yellow.
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