Flyers at Kolkata airport fret over cash-only prepaid cab counters

KOLKATA: Passengers looking to book prepaid cabs at Kolkata airport are in for daily harassment as the kiosks operated by Bidhannagar Police are accepting only cash and refusing any mode of digital payments - UPI or card. With no ATM in the vicinity outside the airport, several passengers claim, they either have to wait several minutes for petty change or have to deal with bullying app-cab drivers.
"So much of advertisement about digital India and the moment we come to Kolkata airport, we find them still dealing with cash and petty change. When we are talking about bringing a change in the system it has to start from the basic," said Kiran Singh, resident of a high-rise in Ultadanga.

Sandesh Yadav, a businessman from Kolhapur who frequently visits Kolkata, said that last week he had to wait at the prepaid taxi counter for almost 30 minutes to get a change of Rs 235, as he had only Rs 500 notes. "It gets frustrating at times, how are we supposed to carry exact cash amount for pre-paid cabs? They don't even have an ATM here," said Yadav.
In the absence of adequate cash, passengers are forced to book app cabs, which in itself is a trouble.
There are also occasions when the taxi driver loaned money to the passenger, and the latter repaid after finding an ATM on the way.
The cash-only situation didn't exist before pandemic, when debit and credit cards were preferred over cash. "Post pandemic, drivers demanded daily payments and as there were fewer passengers at airport we stopped accepting cards. Only cash is accepted here, wherein we keep Rs 10 as service charge and pay the rest to the driver," said an operator at the pre-paid taxi kiosk.
Airport authorities said they were aware of the situation and promised to take it up in an upcoming meeting. "We are aware of the problem but as we don't have control over pre-paid kiosks. However, we will take up the issue in our next meeting," said airport director C Pattabhi.
Shambhunath Dey of Progressive Taxi Mens' Union that has recently bagged contract of managing operations of the prepaid kiosks, said they accept card payments at other prepaid kiosks in Howrah, Sealdah and Dakshineswar and vowed to resume it at airport in quick time.