Along with petrol pump strike, auto and cab aggregators went off road against unfriendly govt policies
The national capital was crippled on Monday with cab aggregators and auto unions calling a strike against "unfriendly" government policies. As part of the triple whammy courtesy petrol pumps also shutting down operations for a day, commuters faced a harrowing time throughout the day with thousands of office goers and passengers at bus terminus and railway stations were left stranded.
The strike was called by Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti, one of the major auto-taxi unions in Delhi, and supported by others like All India Tour and Transport Association (AITTA). The union was protesting against central government's policy on speed governors and Delhi government's transport policies. Of the many demands being made by the cab drivers, one is to increase the minimum fare and charge per kilometre. AITTA Inderjeet Singh and convener of the joint forum said that the fares being charged in current rate is not profitable for them. "A lot of drivers took loan from bank to ply their taxis on roads. However, they are unable to make enough money to repay it.
We have been forced to go off road when our multiple attempts to reach the government failed," he further said. The cabbies have also demanded KYC of customers and a government approved app. While the strike was initially called for one day, the union threatened to make it indefinite if their demands were not met.
Meanwhile, commuters were majorly inconvenienced due to the strike. Office goers were also hit severely, having a problematic start to Monday with no cabs or autos to board. Akshay Khetarpal, an IT consultant in south Delhi told DNA, "Since there were no taxis, I was forced to cancel all my meetings and work from home. Worse was autos too refused to ply even for double the fare."
Bus terminus and railway stations were chock-a-block with waiting passengers as there was no means of transport. "We were supposed to catch a bus from Anand Vihar ISBT, but unfortunately I did not know about the strike by taxi drivers, we kept for about half and hour and in the end had to pay double fare for hiring an auto," said Ishan Seth who was travelling with his friends from Lajpat to Anand Vihar
"My grand mother has to visit doctor on every Monday, we used to hire a cab through an online service provider, but this Monday we could not get any cab, unfortunately we had ended up using an auto to commute for over 10 kilometers, to AIIMS," said Priyanjali Mehta, who lives in Dwarka
"I wish the strike was not called as the E-rickshaw drivers had also raised their fares, every day they used to take 10 rupees, from New Ashok Nagar to botanical garden but today they took 20 rupees," said Harshita Hasija who works in an advertising firm.
Taxi Demand
- The strike was called by Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti, one of the major auto-taxi unions in Delhi.
- Of the many demands being made by the cab drivers, one is to increase the minimum fare and charge per kilometre.
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 "Ola-Uber Strike")
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We have been forced to go off road when our multiple attempts to reach the government failed," he further said. The cabbies have also demanded KYC of customers and a government approved app. While the strike was initially called for one day, the union threatened to make it indefinite if their demands were not met.
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