Aslam Khan speaks at the news conference in Guwahati on Tuesday. Picture by UB Photos

Guwahati, Dec. 2: The Mini Taxi, one of the main operating taxi services in the city at the government-prescribed rate, is all set to add 200 more vehicles to its service, making it the biggest and cheapest taxi service in the city.

Travel Solution North East India, which has been operating the service, today said it has now 80 vehicles.

In March the service was launched with only 10 vehicles.

Aslam Khan, who launched the service, said, after operating the service for nine months they feel that the government prescribed fare is a reasonable one.

The prescribed rate of the state transport department is Rs 30 for the first 2km and then Rs 3 for next every 200 metres. There will be an additional 50 per cent charge if a vehicle is hired between 10pm to 5am.

City’s auto drivers are yet to ply autos at the government’s prescribed rate. Arguing that it is too low, they have been demanding fare revision.

Khan said they have found during these months that passengers in the city are yet to be made aware of the benefits of fare meters.

According to the guidelines provided by the transport department, all the vehicles (Tata Iris) have been installed with global positioning system (GPS) and a digital fare meter with a printed receipt for the benefit of the commuters.

“For the safety of the commuters we appeal to them to always use taxis with fare meter which can give us the report of the movement of taxis. In case of any problem one can press the panic button which is installed in the digital fare meter which will give us the indication and our control room can take necessary action immediately,” Khan said.

The service provider has established a 24x7 call centre (03612638888) which can provide all necessary information about the service and can also take advance booking so that the commuters can avail the service promptly.

Khan said if a passenger sees a free taxi he can give a signal and can avail the service on the spot by asking the driver to book the trip for him over the phone available with the driver.

“If a passenger registers his trip, then we can help him if he is in any problem,” said Khan.