Disappointed with the Delhi Government’s failure to address their demands even after one-day strike by auto rickshaws and taxis in the city, Delhi Pradesh Taxi Union has requested the Delhi Government to fix a cap on the numbers of taxis that can operate in the national Capital. General secretary of the Union Rajendra Soni has threatened of a direct confrontation between auto unions and the Government if it does not address their demands.
In a letter to Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai, Delhi Pradesh Taxi Union has also urged him to order his department to stop issuing new permits to taxis. Union’s general secretary Rajendra Soni said that just as per the court’s order, only one lakh auto-rickshaws can ply in the capital, there is also a need to put a cap on numbers of taxis.
“The numbers of taxis, including app-based, has increased manifolds in last few years, but there is no more space on the roads to accommodate mushrooming numbers of these vehicles,” Soni said.
Threatened that the new scheme will affect the livelihood of the existing auto and taxi drivers, he further said that there should be a ban on issuing new permits to app-based taxi aggregators and vehicles that want to run under ‘City Taxi’ scheme.
“Government should also not issue new All India Tourist Taxi permits and yellow-black taxis. Instead, the department should introduce replacement scheme for them just like in case of auto rickshaws,” he said.