Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has made it mandatory for all cab and autorickshaw drivers in the state to have knowledge of Marathi language from May 1, in a move aimed at improving communication between drivers and passengers and ensuring smoother public transport interactions.
The directive will apply to all licensed taxi and autorickshaw drivers across Maharashtra, including major urban centres such as Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, and other districts. The transport department has also announced a statewide verification drive to enforce the rule more strictly than before.
According to officials, drivers will be required to have a basic ability to speak, read, and write Marathi, and compliance will be checked during licensing and renewal processes. Failure to meet the requirement may result in strict action, including suspension or cancellation of driving licences, depending on the severity of non-compliance.
The enforcement will be carried out through 59 Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) and sub-RTOs across Maharashtra. The transport department will conduct inspections and verification drives to ensure adherence to the rule, which officials say already exists in the licensing framework but was not being strictly implemented earlier.
Transport authorities stated that the objective of the move is to improve communication between drivers and passengers, especially in densely populated urban areas where language barriers have often led to inconvenience and complaints. The government also aims to strengthen the use of Marathi in public-facing services across the state.
However, the decision has sparked mixed reactions from driver associations. Some unions have raised concerns that strict enforcement could affect migrant drivers who may not be fully fluent in Marathi. They have urged the government to ensure a fair and practical implementation process, emphasizing that many drivers already possess basic conversational knowledge of the language.
Despite concerns, officials maintain that the rule is intended to enhance service quality and passenger experience while reinforcing the status of Marathi as the official language of Maharashtra.
The implementation from May 1 marks a new phase of enforcement in transport regulations, and authorities have indicated that compliance will be closely monitored across the state in the coming months.
