Taxi travel in Delhi to be safer, hassle-free

New Delhi, May 3 (UNI) Travelling by taxis in the capital will henceforth become both safer and hassle-free with the launch of the private project -- Delhi Cab -- by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit here today.

Commuters also need no longer pay cash to taxi drivers, they can use their credit or debit cards.

As these taxis will be connected through a 'Master Control Center', the movement of these vehicles can be tracked. This will result in enhanced security for the passengers as also the fact that they cannot be mislead if the drivers take a longer route.

The cabs will be under the constant surveilance by the company Orix Auto Infrastructure Services Ltd (OAIS) which launched the project.

With the law and order of the capital city getting worse by the day, women being the biggest victims of this insecurity, the launch of the new taxis will be a boon.

The Tata Motors taxis, depicting the pictures of important historical monuments and important buildings of the capital, will run on CNG.

The cabs will also have round the clock connectivity through GPRS which will enable the cab driver and passengers with voice and data connectivity.

Mumbai-based OAIS, a joint venture between Japanese ORIX Corporation and Indian Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FC), also plans to expand this service to 500-1,000 cabs by next year.

''We plan to increase our 100 fleet to 500-1,000 fleet by the end of March next year,'' said OAIS Chief Executive Officer Neeraj Kumar adding that ''once the full fleet is functional, we ensure to reach at customer's doorstep within 15 minutes of the phone call.'' The taxi charge will be Rs 15 per kilometer and night charges after 2300 hours will be 25 per cent extra.

UNI