India's first 'in-taxi' magazine hits Mumbai

Mumbai, May 20 (IANS) Stuck in a traffic snarl and wondering how to kill time? India's first 'in-taxi' magazine is here to help.

Called MumBaee, the magazine that was launched Tuesday evening has been brought out by the Mumbai Taximen's Union (MTU) and has been sleekly designed on the lines in-flight magazines.

Explaining the need for such a magazine, editor-publisher of MumBaee Vishnu Kadam said that on an average, commuters spend anything from 15 minutes for a short ride to over a couple of hours for a long ride in the taxis.

'People who travel by taxis fall in the middle and upper middle class category of consumers, who are educated and command considerable spending power,' he added.

There are many Mumbaikars who hire cabs daily to ferry them around the city.

The articles would make light, featurish reading on different aspects of Mumbai and provide comprehensive listing and schedules of various events in the country's commercial capital.

'Presently, we have got very enthusiastic response from the advertisers. We have ordered an initial print run of 30,000 copies for the first half of May. By July, we plan to double it,' said Kadam.

There are 65,000 taxis in Mumbai running under the MTU banner, plus a few thousand more on the Mumbai-Pune, Mumbai-Nashik and other regional sectors, in addition to several thousand private taxis.

Kadam said that he would consider expanding the reach of the magazine after gauging the response from Mumbaikars.