I was ditched and cheated by a radio taxi service a couple of years ago. They are known for cancelling their calls at the 11th hour thereby causing huge inconvenience to passengers. Despite sending you SMSs pertaining to booking Id, Cab no, driver name and contact details when you follow up, the driver would say that he is on the way. He would inform that as per instructions from the head office I cannot pick you up. I had undergone these type of situations in the past hence I had stopped patronizing them altogether.
I thought things would have rather improved in the last two years or so. Therefore, when I planned to hire a cab on 18th May for travel from Dombivli, I called them and booked for a cab. As usual, I received their booking ID through SMS. Subsequently, I received a message pertaining to the car registration number and the chauffeur no. The driver was supposed to pick us up at 4.30 pm. Meanwhile, we kept following the driver up, to know his whereabouts. The driver informed me twice that he had reached Manpada and he will reach within the next 15 minutes. When we called him for the third time he informed us that the head office had asked him to refrain from picking up the passenger which surprised us. After having a heated debate he dared us to file a complaint against him.
Later we contacted the booking office and narrated the entire episode. The lady asked me to hold the phone and said that she will check the matter with her colleagues. She then vanished from the line abruptly. And as expected , our next attempts to catch her on line went in vain.
Ultimately, we had to look out for an alternative mode of transport. Thankfully, we had not hired the cab for travelling to airport but for local commuting. Earlier the radio taxi cab company had ditched me when I had to urgently board a flight as I had to face severe hardships due to the last minute cancellations of taxi service from their side. Moreover, it is not easy to look for an alternative mode of transportation for commuting from a place like Dombivli to suburban Mumbai. It’s due to some compulsions that we hire a cab, instead of travelling by trains
I don’t understand why do radio taxi operators resort to such unfair practices? If they don’t wish to pick up passengers from places like Dombivli, why do they accept bookings for the same? Let them disclose about this fact on their websites. Once the booking Id, driver and cab details are provided how can they cancel the same and leave the clients in the lurch? And why do they convey the cancellation only when we contact them for the status and not voluntarily? No basic courtesy and lack of business ethics? How will they compensate for the loss incurred by the clients, in such situations?
It’s high time such cases are recorded and referred to Consumer Forum for necessary redressal and claim compensations from such errant cab services who are only bound to cheat the clients. The Transport Department must also take cognizance of such complaints and the rude and casual approach of such private cabs and punish them for last minute cancellations.
Krishna Kumar
