Dushanbe administration has decided to make concessions and extend the term for local taxi companies to switch to single-color fleets. 

“Since many repainting enterprises did not operate during the fifth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) that took place here on June 14-15, the Dushanbe Administration has decided to extend the term for taxi companies until June 25,” an official source at the Dushanbe Administration told Asia-Plus in an interview.  

According to him, 1,800 taxicabs are currently running in Dushanbe and only 85 percent of them have been repainted into a yellow-white color.  Recall, Dushanbe Mayor Rustam Emomali has signed a decree obligating local tax companies to switch to single-color fleets beginning on June 15 this year

The Dushanbe Administration announced an open tender in November last year for a single appearance of taxicabs in the Tajik capital.  Both local and foreign physical and legal entities have been invited to participate in the tender.  

Badriddin Qurbonov, a teacher at Tajik Technical University, has won the tender and received a 5,000-somoni prize money, according to the Dushanbe mayor’s office press center. 

Qurbonov has offered a yellow-white color for Dushanbe taxicabs.  

Meanwhile, some foreign researchers consider that yellow cars are less likely to get into accidents.  In the early 20th century, as cars became more prevalent and affordable, taxi outfits like the Chicago Yellow Cab company chose to paint their cars a single color to increase their visibility, both as a brand and on the roads, as the gaudy cars were impossible to miss on the city’s sooty streets.  Today, yellow cabs remain the standard in cities across the globe.