Recalibrated yellow cabs to hit Kolkata streets from June 25

KOLKATA: The yellow-taxi meter calibration will finally start on June 25, nearly 20 days after fare revision on June 6.


The delay was caused as vendors — who are to recalibrate the meter according to new fare chart — sought some time to prepare themselves for the mammoth task of recalibrating the meters of 30,000 yellow and white metered cabs in the city.



For the next two months, the cabbies will have to converting the old reading into the present on the basis of the fare chart issued by RTAs (regional transport authority). Though the public vehicles department has set a deadline of one month for re-calibration of city’s entire yellow and white cab fleet, the recalibration might take two to three months.

The recalibration of each meter generally takes 45 minutes to one hour. After calibration, the cab will be taken to RTA, where a 200meter driving track would be marked. The motor vehicles inspectors (MVI) will then count the change of reading every 200 meters. If it is according to the fare chart announced through gazette notification, the MVI will approve it after sealing the meter.

Once it is approved and sealed, the cab will be ready for charging fare on the basis of the meter reading, said a transport department officer. The last fare was revised in 2014. The recalibrated meter will be tested at four places — Beltala, Salt Lake, Kasba and Behala.

Along with calibration, the transport department also wants to make printed receipts mandatory for a cabby before receiving the payment. “Since this receipt carries the registration number of the cab and exact time of charging the fare, it becomes handy for retrieving the luggage left behind by passengers. If a metered taxi is found to have violated the permit condition by not recalibrating the meter, the cabby will be penalised under section 192A of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988,” said a transport department official.

Bimal Guha, general secretary of Bengal Taxi Association said: “We also support this move wholeheartedly. We will request passengers not to pay a any extra money before receiving the printed receipt.”