End of the road for Mumbai's iconic Kaali-Peeli Premier Padmini taxi

The transport department has set the age limit for taxis to 20 years.

Mumbai’s ‘kaali-peeli’ (black and yellow) taxis based on the Premier Padmini will be phased out from October 30, 2023; ending the Maximum City’s 6-decade-long love affair with the iconic model.

The last Premier Padmini was registered as a taxi at the Tardeo RTO on October 29. It is owned by Prabhadevi resident, Abdul Kareem Karsekar.

The transport department has set the age limit for taxis to 20 years. Earlier, the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) had phased out its diesel-powered double-decker buses due to the end of their 15-year codal life.

Following the announcement, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra posted on X (formerly Twitter), “From today, the iconic Premier Padmini Taxi vanishes from Mumbai’s roads. They were clunkers, uncomfortable, unreliable, noisy. Not much baggage capacity either. But for people of my vintage, they carried tons of memories. And they did their job of getting us from point A to point B. Goodbye and alvida, kaali-peeli taxis. Thank you for the good times.”