धंधा टैक्सी का (The taxi business)

‘So how much did he ask for?’, he asked. I was surprised; I thought at least he would know for sure. He almost sneered when I told him that I paid Rupees 300. ‘So he took rupees 100 commission Ha! That’s typical of him’, he said, and continued driving. 

On further prodding he told me that he was a driver from Pune and had come to Mumbai to drop some guests at the Airport. Typically, the guest would pay for the return journey (about rupees 3800 for an Innova). However, most drivers pick passengers from the Airport for the return trip to Pune and make some additional money, this money remains with the driver and is not shared with the Travel agency which owns the taxi.

As waited near the toll bridge for more passengers

However, for a driver it’s difficult to collect passengers from outside the airport and this is where the middleman comes in (the guy who made Rupees 100 out of the 300 that I paid). Apparently there are many such agents and the driver needs to pick one and if he is fair, he would stay with him. The agents divide up the areas as well. 

This was my first trip in a shared taxi from Mumbai Airport to Pune. To catch one of these taxis, you need to come out of the airport and walk towards your left. If you are with a bag, the agent would immediately get you on board! Often he would also take you on a round, as the traffic police doesn’t let them park for long, in the meanwhile his other partners would locate more such needy guys. A woman traveling like this is apparently rare.

A tunnel on the highway to Pune

This is one of the fastest ways to reach Pune, especially if you flying in through Mumbai. Otherwise, you can always take the Shivneri bus from Dadar Asiad bus stand (by the way they just recently started functioning from a sparkling new bus stand).

p.s. Pictures credit to both of us...