Airport taxi drivers taken for a ride...

Airport taxi drivers taken for a ride...
By C S Hemanth, DH News Service, Bangalore:
Here is a classic case of how authorities have turned a blind eye to a flourishing 'illegal' trade while depriving the authorised operators from making a profit.

At the HAL airport a group of ‘illegal’ taxi operators are thriving at the cost of the Bangalore and Airport Taxi Drivers Union — the authorised taxi operators at the airport.

All this under the nose of traffic and airport police.

The unauthorised taxi operators openly ferry passengers to and from the airport, while vehicles belonging to the union, which as per the State government notification issued in the 2006, are authorised to operate at the airport premises, are deprived of even a taxi stand at the airport.

Union
“Though the union alone is authorised to operate taxi services inside the airport premises, it’s the other taxi operators who are calling the shots. These taxis operate inside the airport premises without even possessing a taxi permit while we don’t even have a taxi stand,” Shaul Ahmed, a driver of the union said.

The union vehicles are made to park their vehicles at the airport departure parking bay by paying a parking fee of Rs 60 each time the vehicle enters the airport premises whereas the unauthorised taxis, allegedly owned by some politicians and local rowdies, are allowed to enter into the premises without even paying the parking fees.

Parking space
“The union has around 120 vehicles, but only 60 of them are allowed to operate inside the airport because of a crunch in parking space. The rest of our fleet is operating at the City and Cantonment Railway Stations,” added another member of the union.

Pre-paid counter
Some members of the union also said the airport authorities in Bangalore are yet to approve of a pre-paid counter for union vehicles despite a clearance being given by the Airports Authority of India in Delhi and the regional office in Chennai.

“We have been requesting the airport authorities for the past one year for a pre-paid counter and now despite being given the clearance, the authorities here are not interested in providing us space and infrastructure,” charged Ahmed.