"In-taxi" magazine launched in India

Talk about niche. Apparently first in the world, Mumbai, India has seen the launch of an "in-taxi" magazine, MumBaee. It was launched Tuesday evening by the Mumbai Taximen’s Union (MTU) and and bears a strong resemblance to slick 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.

The magazine is light and featurish, with comprehensive listings of events in Mumbai, India'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.