The proposed taxi cab and autorickshaw aggregator service by the CPI(M) will be launched in the city by December. According to party leaders, a fleet of 1,000 taxis will be rolled out under the network in the first phase, which will operate from the existing taxi stands they are attached to. “The priority of our taxi network in the first phase will be to provide quality service to customers and as we expand our base, taxi fares competitive to the corporate aggregator taxi service will also be introduced,” said P. Rajeev, former Rajya Sabha MP and CPI(M) leader, who spearheads the initiative. The idea of launching a taxi network struck the party while organising a taxi driver strike in Kakkanad about three months ago. The concept was then shared with the welfare societies for taxi and auto drivers in Kochi, following which the tech-savvy fellow travellers of the CPI(M) were entrusted with the task of creating an IT platform for operating the network.