Claiming that the Delhi Government’s recently-announced City Taxi scheme would negatively impact the livelihood of thousands of auto rickshaw and taxi drivers, the Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh and Delhi Pradesh Taxi Union on Thursday threatened a strike on September 2 demanding rollback of the scheme.
The Delhi Government had on Monday announced a new City Taxi scheme under which even small cars like Tata Nano and Reva could be registered as taxies. The Government has fixed a fare of Rs10 per kilometre for
smaller taxis after the flag down rate of Rs25 for the first two kilometres.
Claiming that all auto rickshaw unions are expected to join the strike, general secretary of the Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh Rajendra Soni said that if the Delhi Government doesn’t agree to their demands, then they will continue the protest by taking all auto rickshaws and taxis off the roads after 4 pm on subsequent days.
Accusing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government of having double standards, Soni said, “At the time of elections, they claimed to fight for the cause of auto rickshaws because they needed their support at that time. Now, when they are in power and don’t need us anymore, they have gone back on their word and are implementing policies directed at snatching the livelihood of auto drivers.”
Further accusing the AAP Government of following the same policies as that of the Congress which had introduced the Economy Taxi Scheme in 2010, Soni added,
“This scheme is just to benefit private companies that manufacture cheap cars. Through this, the Government will achieve nothing except bringing rejected Nano cars on Delhi’s roads which no one buys these days.”
Meanwhile, representatives of the Federation of All Delhi Auto Taxi Transporters Congress showed up at the State Transport Authority office to register their protest against the new scheme.
Kishan Verma, president of the federation said that auto rickshaw and taxi drivers were disappointed with the response of Delhi transport department officials and were ready to go on a hunger strike if the Government failed to take appropriate action for their relief soon.
“If the attitude of the transport department officials and the Government stays like this, we are ready to go on a hunger strike and even start a jail bharo andolan for our cause. This is a matter of our livelihood and we can’t just sit while they take everything away from us,” he said.
Responding to the claims of the unions, a senior transport department official said that these unions were not worried because the City Taxi scheme will affect their livelihood, but because they would now have to mend their ways as they would no more have a monopoly on the Capital’s roads.
“The demand for public transport services is ever-increasing and it’s our job to improve the capacity of all modes of transport. That’s why the department is planning to get more buses. It’s the same rationale behind the City Taxi scheme. The demand will keep increasing, so I don’t see how any auto driver or taxi driver will lose his livelihood,” said the official.
“But yes, this scheme will give commuters more choice, which will create an environment of competition, forcing everyone to improve their service. At present, a commuter has no choice but to hail an auto even if the driver talks rudely to him or charges more than the actual fare. But if he has a choice, why would he choose that mode of transport where he gets harassedIJ The auto drivers will have to mend their ways and that’s why, I think, they are worried,” he added.