Getting Around Mumbai: By taxi

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Taxis are cheap and plentiful ($15-18 should be enough to take you from one end of the city to the other). Most taxis in Mumbai are small-medium sized cars (non air-conditioned), painted black-and-yellow (black on lower body and yellow on roof). You can hail a cab off the streets. However, many are quite rickety, dirty, and carry mechanical fare meters that could be tampered at times and where payment is through a complicated system of calculating meter charge by a certain figure (all taxis are supposed to carry a tariff card that simplifies matters ... Always pay as per the tariff card !!). Also, according to law, a black-and-yellow taxi driver cannot refuse a fare. If a driver does refuse, a threat to complain to the nearest cop usually does the trick. Taxi tariffs and information to lodge complaints are available at www.trafficpolicemumbai.org

Do ride in a taxi and auto at least once in the city. If you are not used to Indian roads, an autorickshaw ride can be a heart-stopping, death-defying, laws-of-physics-bending adventure in a vehicle that feels like it might fall apart at a speed over 30 km/h with a driver who thinks he's Schumacher.

• However, if you want a comfortable, air-conditioned ride at a small surcharge of 25 percent over normal taxis it's best to travel by branded cab services that operate at government-approved tariffs. These services operate modern fleets with well trained drivers. You can get them at 30-60 minutes notice, they are clean, air-conditioned, equipped with digital, tamper-proof meters, punctual, honest, and GPS-equipped-monitored, which makes them far secure at any time. If you're using a mobile phone, you receive an SMS with the driver's name, mobile number and car number 30 minutes before scheduled departure. Charges are Rs 15 for the first km and Rs 13 for subsequent kms, with a 25 percent night surcharge (midnight to 5AM). Some can even be booked online.

Some branded cab services are:

• First Cars (+91-9766311830) www.firstcars.in
• Mega Cab (+91-22-42424242) www.megacabs.com
• Meru Cab (+91-22-44224422) www.merucabs.com
• Fulora Gold Cab (+91-22-32449999 / 32443333)
• Priyadarshini Cabs - especially for single women/a service managed by women (+91-9820221107)

• The standard Black-and-Yellow taxi is not air-conditioned and generally uses mechanical meters. Calculating the fare is done by matching the meter reading with a tariff card to arrive at the final payable fare. The minimum fare is Rs. 13. Prepaid plans have the fare collected at the start and thus the meter reading is not applicable. Night charges apply from midnight to 5 AM when the fare is marked up by 25%.

Large items of luggage are chargeable at approximately Rs.10 per piece. Refer to the tariff card. If you have extra pieces of luggage, the boot (i.e. trunk) of the taxi will not provide sufficient space - one large suitcase is all that will fit there. Hiring a taxi with a top carrier will be better. Top carriers can accommodate up to three large suitcases. Before starting the journey, ensure that the luggage is securely fastened to the carrier.

Generally, the only way to call for the standard taxi is to hail one on the street. This will not be a problem if you are inside city limits (i.e. North Central Bombay and below). If you are in the suburbs, it will be difficult to find a taxi as they have been out-competed by the cheaper auto-rickshaws. If you don't want to hire an auto, you will have to ask around and find a way to call for a taxi.

Follow the queue system to board a taxi. Quite frequently, tourists and new visitors are mobbed by unscrupulous taxi drivers. Most drivers are honest, but the dishonest ones tend to cluster around railway stations and airports where they can more easily find suckers. Unless you are taking a prepaid taxi, always ask taxis to go by the meter. At the start of the journey, ensure that the meter is visible and shows the flag-down fare/meter reading.

Its quite handy to have the Taxi Meter Card issued by The Mumbai Traffic Police. You can access it online at www.trafficpolicemumbai.org

Complaints can also be lodged online using the same site.

The maximum number of passengers allowed for a trip officially is four — three in the back seat and one in the front. Seat belts are not mandatory for taxi passengers and most standard black and yellow taxis will not have them installed, though the branded ones would have them.

If you travel alone especially in night then always see the meter by yourself and then pay the fare. if you are alone, sit in front so that you can see the meter. Most frauds take place at railway terminuses and at the airport.

One of the common scam is to charge the night fare rate during daytime. You should be careful and read the heading before paying. In some cards, the night fare is red in color and daytime fare is black in color.

The other scam is to swap a 500 rupee note for a 100 rupee note and then ask you pay extra.

• Pay and Park Juhu Beach, 9 km (6 miles)

• Malabar Hill, 8 km (5 miles)

• www.trafficpolicemumbai.org
• www.firstcars.in
• www.megacabs.com
• www.merucabs.com