An emergency at home early in the morning and desperately seeking a cab? Stranded outside City Centre without wheels, after a night show at INOX?

Come October 1, and you can call for a cab, any time of day or night, by dialling 9433565222.

Kolcab is a “24-hour taxi dispatch system” that allows anyone struggling to hail a taxi to dial his way out of distress. The yellow cabs would charge “point to point”, and not garage to garage.

Kolcab will be starting out with 100 cabs connected to its call centre.

“Calcuttans often find it tough to find a taxi in out-of-the-way places or at odd hours. With this 24-hour service, one can call a cab by just dialling a BSNL number from any phone,” said Kalyan Sen, a professor of Bengal Engineering and Science University, who has steered the project.

The earliest avatar of calling a cool cab in Calcutta, meanwhile, is struggling to stay afloat. “Blue Arrow taxis are now available only at important places like the airport and stations. We operate the Indicabs according to bookings and calls made to the drivers. Due to high fares, very few people hail the AC cabs on the streets,” admitted spokesperson D.N. Tiwary.

The Kolcab service will be a win-win for passengers and drivers. According to a survey conducted prior to starting the service, it was found that most taxis remain idle 50 per cent of their duty time.

“This new system would improve the lot of the cab drivers, who would be armed with a cell phone (for which they will have to pay Rs 325 a month). As soon as our call centre receives a request, the nearest cab driver would be informed of the location,” said Krishna Sen, director, Dudani Coke Private Limited, which is sponsoring the project.

Kolcab intends to increase the number of cabs in its fold, in due course. The roof of the taxi will be an attractive advertising vehicle. “For local brands, these advertisements would be useful as these cabs would become synonymous with a service to the city,” argues Sen.