Mumbai: Autos to go off roads on July 9, unions decide

In one month, unless their demands are met, the auto-rickshaw drivers across Mumbai and Maharashtra have decided to stay off the roads. The Autorickshaw Chalak-Malak Sanghatana Sanyukt Kruti Samiti — the collective of all rickshaw unions across the state — met at Goregaon on Sunday to discuss their issues and take a call on the indefinite strike, planned from July 9.

There are broadly five demands that the unions want the state government to fulfil by June 30, one of them being a 33 per cent fare hike (raise base price by Rs 6) as per the Hakim Committee. Other demands include shuttering mobile aggregators like Ola and Uber, reduce premiums on vehicle insurance, welfare schemes for drivers including PF and gratuity as promised by state, and medical benefits.

There are 1.82 lakh rickshaws registered in Mumbai alone, while there are around 8.63 lakh across the state.

"We want the state government to take a decision by June 30, else we shall go on strike from July 9," said Shashank Rao, president, Autorickshaw Chalak-Malak Sanghatana Sanyukt Kruti Samiti.