The Sad news is, that as the Ambassador shied away from the Indian roads, the popular Padmini taxis shall also see the scrapyard soon. With the coming of well-executed cab services like Uber, Ola etc., the taxi trend has faded away almost completely. While auto drivers face difficulties in getting passengers these days, they sought to have app driven rides as well, but Padmini taxis fail to make it to the rapidly upgrading emission norms and receive lesser passengers opting for taxis as its costs more than the online cab services.
Padmini taxis are Italian company Fiat's cab network in Mumbai that has been the pride of the city for last half century. The first one to roll on the roads was Fiat 1100 Delight in 1964, named after the Maharani of
Chittor, Padmavati. They are easily spotted in various Bollywood movies of the 90s, especially the ones with railway station scenes. Now, only the foreign tourists get intrigued by its ride, rest has already become a proliferating history, that is soon to be a part of history as well. While Ambassador was owned by bureaucrats and elite class, Padmini taxi carried the foreign tourists or the officials commuting between major stops of Mumbai.
The heavy gearbox, uncomfortable boot space and quivering body type has taken its signature black and yellow exterior and given it to other small car manufacturers of today, like Santro, Zen, Alto etc. and its drivers are taken away by the more luxurious cars used as taxis today.
