Hassled commuters have a cab as students down meter

Hassled commuters have a cab as students down meter

In a bid to help hassled commuters hire taxis during peak hours, the Rotaract Club of Hinduja College, Charni Road, took to the streets at Crawford Market on Thursday evening and ensured that no commuter is turned away by cabbies. Students also organised carpools among commuters who were taking the same route. The campaign called Meter Down is also trying to create awareness among citizens that they can file a case against a taxi driver if he refuses to ply to any part of the city before 7pm. Over 25 students stopped taxis, and even fought with those drivers who refused, to help people struggling to get taxis for their destinations. Some of them went to the extent of chasing drivers who refused to ply and threatened to take them to the police. Ali Asgar Sabuwala, club’s president, said, “We launched this campaign last year and repeated it a few times at Crawford Market, Lamington Road and Grant Road with the help of traffic police. We plan to do it on a large scale this year. The Mumbai police has permitted and supported this initiative.” He added that hiring a taxi has become difficult in areas like Crawford Market during peak hours (5pm to 7pm). The students helped more than 100 people find taxis. “The response was tremendous. Initially, we approached people and asked them where they wanted to go. After a while, people started coming to us for help,” said Abhishek Mehta, another member.