Shortage of taxis hits Bengaluru as more than 50% cabs out of operation

Bengaluru: There is a shortage of taxis across the State including Sate capital Bengaluru. According to figures from the Department of Transport, 3,38,842 cabs and 1,15,363 maxi cabs are registered across the State. But now there are only about 2 to 2.50 lakh vehicles ferrying passengers. That means only 40-50 percent of the 4.54 lakh registered cabs are operating, according to Taxi Owners' Association.

Since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic two years ago, most of the IT companies have remained closed as the employees are working from home leading to fall in demand for cabs. This has left the taxi owners in financial trouble. Several cab and taxi owners were forced to sell their vehicles as they could not pay the instalments for the loan they had taken from banks to buy them. Many cars were seized by banks due to non-payment of loans by cabbies.

Thus, 50 percent of cabs have gone off the roads in the State. The shortage of cabs is now being felt as the Covid fear is gone and all economic activities are back. But the hitch is huge increase in prices of cars and getting loans from banks has become difficult, said Mahesh, a driver hailing from Chitradurga.

Adding insult to injury, the steep hike in petrol and diesel prices is causing huge trouble for taxi owners.

The existing taxis are not meeting the demand of the customers. Taxis are difficult to hire after 5 pm even if the customers are willing to pay more. If the IT offices reopen, there would be more demand for taxis and fares may hit the sky. A taxi owner says that the fare has increased by 20 to 40 percent.

12-16% hike in Ola, Uber cab fares

Almost all the car companies in India have hiked prices twice in 2022 due to many reasons. Now there is another round of price hike. The ex-showroom price of cars is expensive now. The cars that were once available at low prices are unaffordable now and people hesitate to them. In yet another blow to buyers, maintenance cost of cars has doubled.

Third party insurance is expensive

Third party insurance is also increased along with the price of the car. Due to this, customers have to pay 17 to 23 percent extra to buy a car or bike.

The central government has reduced the excise duty on fuel twice. Many States including Karnataka have reduced the prices. However, the price of petrol has not gone below Rs 100. Travel is expensive. The officials of the Tourist Vehicle Owners' Association say that the prices of new cars are expensive because the central government has ordered to manufacture vehicles under the Go Green system, which does not harm the environment and gives more mileage with less fuel.

"As the production of diesel vehicles has decreased, the price has skyrocketed. It is difficult to get loans from financial institutions and buy new vehicles. The result of all this is the lack of vehicles like taxis available for hire to the public," says K Radhakrishna Holla, president of the Karnataka State Travel Owners Association.