TIA receives ten brand new pre-paid taxis

Problems faced by passengers at Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA) seems to have been partially addressed as ten brand new pre-paid taxis have started plying from the country's only international airport. The Air Passenger Transportation Service Management had previously announced to introduce one hundred new taxis by July 1, but due to delay in receiving green license plates the company started the operation with only ten new taxis from July 25. “We had only ten new taxis with green license plates therefore without much delay we started their operation from Thursday,“ said chairman of the company Purosottam Simkhada. “Now we will introduce additional 50 new pre-paid taxis soon as they receive green license plates from the Department of Transportation.“ On July 25, the company unofficially started operation of ten taxis out of which three taxis were for passengers at domestic airport and the remaining for passengers at the international terminal. “We will formally inaugurate the service once 50 more pre-paid taxis start their operation,“ Simkhada said. The company will also manage the parking area for newly launched prepaid taxis. “We will oversee the overall management of the proposed taxi parking area which will have a capacity to house minimum 300 taxis,” Simkhada said. The company has signed an agreement of seven years to look after the operation of the pre-paid taxis and the taxi parking area. TIA will receive around Rs 21.5 million for operation and management of the taxi area from the company. According to the company, it is making an investment of around Rs 400 million to introduce new taxis in the TIA and is preparing to secure a loan of around Rs 320 million for purchase of 60 vehicles from Nepal Investment Bank. The company will also acquire loans from Machhapuchchhre Bank to purchase 50 vehicles and Global IME Bank to purchase additional 85 vehicles. “We will gradually increase the number of taxis to 200 in the first phase and add another 100 taxis after conducting a study,” Simkhada said. According to Tribhuwan International Airport office, around 170 old taxis are currently operating in the airport.