Echoing the demands of thousands of cabbies in the city, the Mumbai Taximen's Union today made a representation to the chairperson of the Regional Transport Authority (RTA), Mumbai, demanding the abolition of the mandatory white and khaki uniforms.

``We're self-employed people and not servants of any company like the police and the BEST. There's no reason for us to be wearing uniforms,'' says A L Quadros, general secretary of the taxi union, pitching for mufti.

There's an interesting history behind the white and khaki uniforms. Prior to 1960, when the uniform rules were framed, an owner-cum-driver was identified by a full white uniform while drivers wore khaki.

Quadros cites Section 21 (18) of the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Rules whichstate that the driver of a motor cab shall be cleanly dressed and in the manner in which the RTA may prescribe.

The RTA has prescribed white or khaki trousers and a shirt as uniform for the taxi driver. The idea behind this rule was to prevent a cab driver from wearing shabby dresses like lungis, shorts and vests since passengers, particularly women, may hesitate to hire the vehicles. While white uniforms gets dirty quite easily, khaki is uncomfortable in summer, Quadros said.

He cites a judgement of the Gujarat High Court in 1985 which followed a driver being prosecuted by the transport authorities for not wearing a uniform. The high court had ruled that the driver could wear clothes of any colour.

The Traffic Department and the RTO charge a fine of Rs 50 from cabbies for not wearing uniforms. Quadros calls this rule archaic.

``Today we're one of the few cities in India which strictly enforce dress codes for drivers,'' says Quadros. He adds that younger taxi drivers do not want to wear theiruniforms. Representatives of the taxi union will meet Konkan Divisional Commissioner, Sharwaree Gokhale, who is also chairperson of the RTA, later this week. If the RTA rejects their demands, the cabbies will approach the State Transport Apellate Tribunal.

Quadros has also demanded replacement of the existing badges given to taximen with laminated badges including photographs and essential information of the driver.