December 2014: 484 applications

May 2015: 4,115 applications

The number of vehicle owners applying for "luxury taxi" permits, a mandatory document to join the Uber or Ola fleet, has increased almost tenfold in the past six months.

"So many people have been turning up at Paribahan Bhavan to submit applications for luxury taxi permits that we have had to restrict entry into the office. Most of the applications are for permits to ply taxis in the city," said a senior official at the transport department's headquarters.

Many of these applicants have either bought or are in the process of buying a sedan, reversing the practice of purchasing a commercial vehicle only after being sure of a permit.

In stark contrast to the growing queue for luxury taxi permits, there has been a dip in the number of applications for contract carriage permits to run the standard yellow or white-and-blue taxis.

Between December 2013 and May 2014, the public vehicles department in Calcutta had received 875 applications for contract carriage permits. In the next six months, only about half the number of applications - 445, to be precise - were received.

On the flip side, the demand for luxury taxi permits shot up from 439 to 930 over the same period.

Paribahan Bhavan in central Calcutta's Mangoe Lane, the headquarters of the transport department, is currently the only place where applications for luxury taxis can be submitted.

The entry of Uber and then Ola in the second half of 2014 seems to have made all the difference. Transport department officials said the thousands of applications being submitted for luxury taxi permits were mostly to join either Uber or Ola, both of which follow a business model that gives owner-drivers the opportunity to earn around Rs 80,000 a month.

When Metro visited Paribahan Bhavan last week, the majority of the youths queuing up there said they were applying for luxury taxi permits to hop onto the app-based taxi bandwagon.

"I own a yellow taxi and some commercial vehicles along with my three brothers. Some of my friends have signed up with Uber, Ola and other such operators. So I thought why not give it a try," said Habil Hussain, an applicant from Titagarh on the northern fringe of Calcutta. "One of my friends bought a new car and gave it to his elder brother to run after signing up with one these companies."

The galloping demand for luxury taxi permits has rattled the yellow taxi brigade, whose monopoly all these years had allowed them to get away with everything from rigged fare meters to passenger refusal on a whim.

Representatives of the taxi unions recently met senior transport officials to press for a leash on new applications for luxury taxis and a bar on app-based taxis plying without a fare chart. "Someone with an all-Bengal permit cannot fix a fare structure on his own. In that case, all taxi operators should be fixing their own fares," said Bimal Guha of the Bengal Taxi Association, the largest taxi union in the state. "We have asked the government to draw the line."

While the unions are trying to stave off the threat from app-based services, many taxi operators are considering buying a second vehicle to join Uber or Ola.

"A yellow taxi fetches its driver between Rs 300 and Rs 350 a day. That's around Rs 2,000-2500 a week. But the new companies are offering far higher returns," said taxi owner Ratan Das of Sakherbazar, Behala. "This may not last long but if I have a luxury taxi permit, I would have the option of earning a rent by leasing my car to a company. A luxury taxi permit definitely seems to be a better option than a contract carriage permit."

Most applicants said they were applying for permits after finding out from family members, friends and other car owners how much they could earn after accounting for the salary of a full-time driver, EMI, fuel and routine maintenance costs.

"My nephew in Bangalore told me about Uber. I have started the process of buying a car even before getting my permit. After my driver retires for the night, I plan to take over," said an applicant from Suren Sarkar Road, near Phoolbagan.