yazadjal.com

I’m on a flying visit to Pune to deliver a talk to IAS officers about Praja and e-governance. The venue is the lovely and verdant Tata Management Training Centre and it feels great to blog while hearing the koels in the garden outside.

But more interesting than the destination was the journey to Pune. I caught a cool cab (air-conditioned and I took the whole cab as I was in a hurry and did not want to wait for co-passengers). I ended up with a veritable senior citizen driving me. Seeing the flowing white beard my first reaction was a groan that the man was going to drive at 40 kmph. I was wrong. He drove with superb control; never dipping below 80 kmph and often went at 110 kmph. He also kept his counsel which I rank very highly as I dislike hearing unnecessary commentary (I generally like giving it, it’s a one way street). He drove with his right hand on the wheel and his left almost always on the gearshift. It somehow gave him a regal appearance. The car, unfortunately, was anything but regal. The upholstery was clean but old and shabby, and the suspension needed work.

I asked how often he made the Bombay-Pune trip per day. If he was lucky he made one trip every three days. There’s a long line. Line? Where? The taxi stand. Aaah. It seems that there is a monopoly of the Mumbai-Pune Taximens Association regarding the cabs that ply between the two cities. At one level it makes things simpler — they would arrange to get you co-passengers so you could share a cab. At another level competition would make the service better and definitely improve the quality of cars used. But there are strong lobbies which prevent ease of entry. India has a registration system for cabs and they need special licences to ply outside their geographical jurisdiction, all adding to the regulatory hurdles, which keep new entrants out. And decrease the level of service. Of course import rules for used cars make this worse, but that’s another story.

Oh well, maybe I shouldn’t grumble that much. They cool cabs are amongst the most comfortable I’ve experienced in India and the Bombay-Pune ones have a perfect safety record.