More than half of Kolkata’s iconic yellow taxis will be off the road in 2025, here’s why

The popularity of yellow taxis has been declining for a few years now

More than 64% of Kolkata’s iconic yellow taxis will be off the roads by March 2025 due to the 15-year service limit imposed by the state transport department. According to state transportation department records, there are currently about 7,000 registered yellow taxis in the state. Of these, around 4,500 will need to be removed from the roads in line with pollution standards that prohibit vehicles 15 years or older from plying the roads.

These yellow taxis, all ambassadors, were previously produced by Hindustan Motors Limited (HML) at the company’s manufacturing unit, Hind Motor, in Hooghly district of West Bengal.

However, since the company stopped manufacturing this particular brand, there is no chance of replacing it.

ALSO READ | Kolkata’s trams: How the city’s 151-year-old ‘Glory’ is slowly dying

There is confusion over the exact year in which yellow taxis were first introduced on the roads of Kolkata. Some public transport records indicate that 1908 was probably the year the first yellow taxi began plying the streets of Calcutta, with the cost per mile for availing its service being set at 50 paise.

However, the Calcutta Tax Association adopted the Ambassador as its standard tax model in 1962. Clear visibility of the color even after sunset was the reason why yellow was the color of taxis.

The popularity of yellow taxis has been declining for several years now due to the introduction of app taxis which offer greater travel comfort. However, given the nostalgia associated with yellow taxis, the state transport department is trying to come up with a formula to keep this reminiscence alive to the extent and extent possible.

“Returning the Ambassador models to the streets is out of the question since the company that manufactures them has now stopped production of this brand. However, owners holding licenses for the old yellow taxis will be able to obtain new commercial transport licenses against Thereafter, any owner who wishes to obtain yellow as the color for this commercial vehicle will be permitted to do so under special permission from the National Department of Transportation. is at the drawing board stage now and. I need discussions with the taxi associations,” said a national transport department official.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)