Why are taxis yellow in colour?

In 1907, car salesman John Hertz looked at his surplus of traded-in cars and decided to start a taxi business. Since taxis needed to stand out, the colour yellow was chosen. That was the result of a survey by the University of Chicago which concluded yellow was the easiest colour to spot. Hertz’s Chicago Yellow Cab Company was the first cab service to use the now-familiar moniker. In fact, when the entrepreneur established the Hertz Corporation in 1953, he also used yellow in the new logo.

Yellow Taxis in India

Cars such as Toyota Etios, Maruti Omni, Mahindra Logan, Tata Indica and Tata Indigo are fairly popular among taxicab operators. The livery of the taxicabs in India varies from state to state. In Delhi and Maharashtra, most taxicabs have yellow-black livery while in West Bengal, taxis have yellow livery. Private taxicab operators are not required to have a specific livery. However, they are required by law to be registered as commercial vehicles.

According to Government of India regulations, all taxicabs are required to have a fare-meter installed. However, enforcement by authorities is lax and many cabs operate either without fare-meter or with defunct ones. In such cases, fare is decided by bargaining between the customer and the driver. Taxicabs face stiff competition from auto rickshaws, but in some cities, for example Mumbai, auto-rickshaws are banned in the main city district, thus giving taxicabs a monopoly.