The Calcutta airport authorities and police will jointly manage the vehicle lanes in front of the terminal building and try to prevent unauthorised parking of yellow taxis in the lanes meant for movement of commercial vehicles, it was decided at a meeting on Thursday.
Five yellow taxis registered with the state government’s Yatri Sathi app will be allowed to park for free at the designated kerbside pick-up point at a time.
Taxis other than the yellow ones, which are mostly air-conditioned cabs registered with Yatri Sathi, will have to pay ₹70 per trip, to the agency that manages parking at the airport, to pick up passengers in front of the terminal, officials present at the meeting said.
Now, yellow taxis remain illegally parked in the outermost lane in front of the terminal, on the arrival level. Most of the taxis have “Yatri Sathi” written on them but airport officials and passengers have alleged that they refuse bookings through the app and charge exorbitant amounts when approached.
“The airport authorities and the Bidhannagar police will form a joint team and manage the vehicle lanes in front of the terminal building. We have sought police’s help in removing taxis and cars that remain parked illegally in front of the terminal and cause congestion. We have also sought help (from the police) to remove taxi touts,” Pravat Ranjan Beuria, the director of the Calcutta airport, said on Thursday.
“It should be a joint drive and the police have agreed to it in today’s meeting.”
The Yatri Sathi cabs and those registered with the Bidhannagar commissionerates’s pre-paid taxi service will be asked to park in front the old domestic terminal building for free. They can go to the pick-up points in front of the new terminal when slots are vacant, said an airport official.
“Yellow taxis registered neither with the police nor with Yatri Sathi will be charged ₹100, as parking fee for up to two hours, to pick up passengers from in front of the terminal,” said an airport official.
Now, many such yellow taxis remain illegally parked in one of the two lanes designated for movement of commercial vehicles.
Uber and Ola cars pay ₹80 per trip to the parking agency.
A passenger who recently arrived from Dhaka and booked a Yatri Sathi cab had to pay much more than the stipulated fare.
“When I reached the taxi, the driver cancelled the booking and asked for ₹1,000 to go to Kasba,” he said.
The Telegraph has reported several times about taxi touts at the airport and the exorbitant rates they demand from passengers.
Sanjay Kumar, the traffic inspector in charge of the airport traffic guard of the Bidhannagar commissionerate, said the airport authorities sought help from the police to manage traffic in front of the terminal building and take action against errant drivers.
“We will penalise motorists according to the law. We will keep an eye out for vehicles parked outside the terminal building for a long time as well as those found parked on the zebra crossing. We want to keep the area outside the terminal building free of snarls,” Kumar said.
A team of at least 30 cops, including three officers and around 12 constables, will be deployed at the airport to manage the lanes in front of the terminal.
According to Kumar, they would send a letter to the airport authorities asking them if another lane can be demarcated for commercial vehicles during rush hours.
