Govt to give ID cards to taxi drivers

TT; Siliguri, Nov. 6: The state government has decided to issue photo identity cards to more than 800 taxi drivers in Siliguri and display fare charts at different locations in the town to crack down on drivers overcharging tourists. The move has been taken following allegations that tourists are being fleeced by a section of taxi drivers and harassed by touts.

 A committee has been set up with north Bengal development minister Gautam Deb as chairman to check the menace. The decision to issue the identity cards and form the committee was taken at a meeting convened by Deb at the Circuit House here yesterday. The meeting was attended by tourism department officials, representatives of police and office-bearers of tourism and transport associations.

 “It was decided at the meeting that identity cards should be issued to drivers of commercial vehicles which ferry tourists to different destinations in north Bengal. The cards would help passengers identify the drivers. The meeting also resolved to display taxi fare charts at different locations in Siliguri. The charts will show the fares for shared rides as well as fully booked taxis,” said the minister.

 Deb said the authorities could arrest the overcharging by the taxi drivers during Durga Puja as help desks had been set up at transit points and all stakeholders of the tourism industry were keeping a watch on the tourists’ movement. “However, over the past few days, reports of overcharging have reached us again and we decided to strengthen the help desks at New Jalpaiguri station, Bagdogra airport and Tenzing Norgay Central Bus Terminus,” he added. 

 The taxi drivers denied the allegation of overcharging. “We run commercial vehicles mostly on a shared basis and the rates are fixed. People buy tickets from counters and board our vehicles. The rate for the trip to Darjeeling for a single person is Rs 120 and Rs 60 for Kurseong. We charge Rs 80 for the journey to Kalimpong and Rs 150 for Gangtok,” said Kamal Khawas, the general secretary of the Darjeeling District Taxi Owners’ and Drivers’ Association. He said the drivers could no longer afford to charge those rates as the costs had increased.

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 “We have met minister Gautam Deb and sought his intervention for the revision of fares,” said Khawas. Sadhan Roy, the general secretary of the Eastern Himalaya Travel and Tour Operators’ Association, also said the taxi fares should be increased as the last revision was done three-four years back.