December 10: Maruti Vans can now be used as taxis again. The decision to allow the use of Maruti vans as taxis was made by the government about three weeks ago.

Submitting the proposal to the government, the taxi tshogpa and the members of the Taxi Service Centre said most passengers prefer Maruti vans as they are spacious and can accommodate more passengers and luggage.

A member from the taxi service centre told BBS that Mauriti vans are more convenient compared to Santo and Alto cars.

Many taxi operators said they are happy with the government’s new decision to allow them to use Maruti vans as taxis.

In January 2007, the government banned the use of Maruti vans as taxis because they were considered unsafe for passengers.

According to a survey by RSTA, most accidents which occurred between 2000 and 2005 involved maruti vans.

The RSTA Chief Engineer, Thinley Namgay said the new Maruti vans have additional safety measures. Based on this, the authority allowed Maruti vans to be used as taxis from this month.

There are more than 5,000 taxis in the country. Of that almost half are Maruti vans.