The ‘My Cab’ facility launched by the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday became defunct within 24 hours. People called the advertised phone number for hours, but there had been no response.
This correspondent also tried to contact the helpline number 0755-6666666 to call the cab, but the phone number remained engaged for 45 minutes. Notably, the facility was launched with much fanfare by Minister of Urban Administra-tion and Development and Housing and Environment Kailash Vijayvargiya here on Wednesday.
The helpline number 0755-6666666 provided to book the radio cab remained busy throughout the evening from 5 pm to 5.30 pm. At the launch, the BMC had promised that radio taxi will provide prompt service, reliable and easy means of transportation across Bhopal but the conditions were totally different on the second day itself. The residents were promised to enjoy air-conditioned ride round the clock. On the contrary, the helpline number remained busy the whole evening.
A total number of 100 radio cabs fitted with GPS (Global Positioning System) are running in the city. When a customer calls on the helpline number of the radio taxi, the operator communicates with the driver via GPS to place the nearest cab.The Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC), under public private partnership (PPP) mode, launched this cab facility in the city.
Cabs are available at all the important destinations which includes Habibganj Railway Station, MP Nagar, DB City, Raja Bhoj Airport, Moti Masjid, New Market and Hoshangabad Road. A computerised slip is given to the passengers travelling in cabs.The air-conditioned cab costs `50 for first two kms and subsequently `23 per km. There are no waiting charges for first 20 minutes and after that `100 is charged for each hour. The passengers travelling at night need to pay 20 per cent extra charges.