Got into the taxi trap?

The chances of retrieving objects left behind in city cabs are very dim. CT finds out why How to get it back * Note down the cab number as soon as you get in * File a missing luggage complaint at the nearest thana * Call 24742249 for Bengal Taxi Association and 24854040/24855050 for Progressive Taximen's Union and inform them * Call the Kolkata Police traffic helpline (98300 10000) and/or 909 (only for Hutch subscribers).They inform the taxi associations, get taxi the owners' details and get cracking It could be your cellphone, wallet or a valuable document but if you have mistakenly left any of these in a cab, chances are bleak that you will get them back. While cases of misplacing luggage is nothing new and it recurs with unceasing regularity, what is surprising is that unlike in the past, cabbies nowadays rarely return the misplaced belongings to the concerned passenger. According to both the taxi associations in the city, there are about 9-10 cases of misplaced luggage in cabs taking place daily. But barring a couple of stray incidents, no cab driver has reported a single incident to the police or even to the taxi associations in the past one year. "Blame it on the declining levels of honesty or lack of conscience among cabbies but passengers surely need to be more careful these days. If they leave something behind in a cab, chances are that it is gone for ever. Earlier, we could at least hope for retrieval in 40 per cent cases," said Bimal Guha, president of Bengal Taxi Association. When a passenger leaves his belonging behind, the cabbie has two options. First, he can directly report the incident at the nearest local thana, or he can alert the taxi association it is affiliated to. "Most cabbies are reluctant to approach the police as in many cases, they end up getting harassed for reporting the incident. But there are no excuses for not informing the taxi association and it clearly indicates that there has been a drastic change in their temperament. The profile of cabbies has changed now and most of them are inexperienced newcomers trying hard to earn some fast bucks," added Guha. A random check on the most frequently misplaced items in cabs shows that cellphones, ornaments, documents, wallets and luggage kept in the luggage space at the back top the list. "Besides cabbies, it has sometimes been seen that, the next passenger tends to flick the stuff that he might find left behind on the rear seat of the cab. If it is a mobile, he can just switch it off making it impossible to trace. So, if passengers themselves are dishonest, why blame the poor cabbies?," said Madan Mitra, chairman of Progressive Taximen's Association. Now, to improve the situation, taxi associations are currently conducting awareness workshops to motivate cabbies and to make them more accountable and honest towards their professional responsibilities. However, the onus also lies on the passenger if he or she really wants to avoid such unforced errors. "There's no point just blaming the driver. The passenger can note down the taxi number as soon as he gets in. He should immediately file a 'missing' diary at the police station. We can then alert the control room, taxi associations, track the particulars of the taxi owner and there are higher chances of intercepting the taxi," said SK Mitra, deputy commissioner of police, traffic (II). According to Mitra, cases of misplaced luggage are more among women who carry small pieces of luggage which are easily forgotten. "Interestingly, the couple of times where cabbies have made an effort to return such belongings have been cases where passengers left behind a bagful of wedding jewellery in the cabs. We guess they returned those for sentimental reasons," said Mitra.