IANS

New Delhi, Feb 12: Flagging a black and yellow taxi in the national capital has become a thing of the past. Now most commuters just call up a radio cab number for a haggle-free and more comfortable ride with decent drivers.

A majority of commuters in this sprawling city travel by bus or auto-rickshaw, but a large chunk of business and middle-income group travellers use taxis regularly.

Many feel that the conventional back and yellow cabs for which people first need to identify a reliable taxi stand cannot cope with the lifestyle changes the city dwellers have undergone in the past few years.

"Delhi is getting crowded by self-driven cars and the roads are getting blocked. Driving is no more a pleasure. So, nowadays many people in Delhi are gradually opting for hired cabs for commuting to make their lives hassle- free," Naresh Chand, managing director of Savaari Car Rentals, told IANS.

Business for car hire and radio cab services like Meru, EasyCabs, Delhi Cabs and many more is thriving.

Gavin D'abreo, vice president (marketing) for Meru Cabs, told IANS: "Consumers are looking for reliability. They don't want tampered meters or any haggling or rash unskilled drivers. We ensure this through a service which is monitored and controlled by our server. We have fixed metered rates."

Meru has increased its fleet from 150 cars to nearly 2,000 in just 14 months, he said.

A Delhi government official said that in all, there would be around 5,000 radio cabs in the capital by October this year. "Our business in NCR (National Capital Region) is very beneficial. We have made services professional and our drivers know how to speak English," a spokesperson of Delhi Cabs Service said.

Ratri Nag, a marketing executive who takes a radio cab at least twice a week, said: "It is so much simpler to hire a radio taxi, especially when I have to go to the airport in the middle of the night. They may charge a little extra, but it's definitely much safer and more convenient."

While most customers go in for economy cars like Tata Indica and Maruti WagonR, some business travellers opt for luxury sedans like Toyota Corolla and Hyundai Verna.

"Today radio cab services provide very well maintained and comfortable cars of various new models. The chauffeurs are well mannered, helpful and reliable. These guys maintain good standards where we don't have to think twice before hiring a car," said Arupjyoti Gogoi, a public relations executive who arranges high-end travel for clients daily.

The fare for radio taxis is Rs.15 per kilometre or a certain fixed rate for eight hours.

The local taxi stands for the classic black and yellows, where often you find drivers cooking, sleeping and bathing, are feeling the pinch from competition.

Surjit Singh, owner of the Heera taxi stand at west Delhi's Rajendra Place, said: "For the past six years, since I opened the stand, I have seen a lot of changes in our business. Many are opting for private radio cabs. But our business isn't that bad and we are still following our tradition and plying the black and yellow taxis."

Singh is making a few changes, inducting a few professional-looking white cars for day hires.

But the traditional black and yellow taxi is still a favourite of visiting foreigners.

"Most of the time foreigners come to our taxi stand and they ask for a black and yellow taxi instead of the new branded cars, because they see it as a sign of of our Indian taxi service. So our business in this competitive market is still going well," said R.S. Sawhney, the owner of another taxi stand.