Revised waiting charge in cab fare

KOLKATA: When you board a taxi from Tuesday, don't forget to keep track of the waiting meter at the signals.
In the new taxi fare applicable from February 10, waiting charges have also been lowered from the existing Re 1 for 2 minutes 12 seconds from Rs 1.50 for the same duration. But most taxi drivers are feigning ignorance that the meter needs to be calibrated to change the waiting units.So, chances are high that passengers will end up paying at least Rs 10-15 more for long distances travelled via congested areas.
The driver of taxi number WB 04 B 2405, for instance, said he has never changed the waiting unit of the meter. "The passenger will pay as per the new chart," he said. When this correspondent tried to explain to him the logic behind the change, he merely said: "I will just follow the union and the chart, the fare has nothing to do with the waiting time."
However, negating his claims, Bengal Taxi Union secretary Bimal Guha said the waiting units of the taxis would be duly adjusted before the new fares became applicable.
When TOI got in touch with the oldest taxi meter manufacturing company, the manager said: "Nobody is interested in calibrating the electronic meters. Both the fare and waiting unit of these meters can be separately calibrated very quickly. Taxi fares have undergone many revisions, but we are still selling meters with the old rate and waiting structure because the motor vehicles department needs to issue a notification for any change in the meters."
The taxi meter testing centre recently inaugurated at the Salt Lake stadium has a special software, which can now calibrate the waiting unit separately in five minutes. Said a senior official of the West Bengal Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation: "Meter checking is a regular and compulsory affair to check discrepancies in taxi meters. But calibration is not a compulsion. For this, the motor vehicles department needs to issue a notification."