Strongly opposing the entry of online private taxi service companies Ola and Uber in Odisha, auto-rickshaw drivers and owners on Wednesday took to the streets across the State, causing a harrowing time for commuters.
While the commuters were left in the lurch in the scorching heat wave conditions as the main medium of transport was off roads, members of the All Odisha Auto Chalak Mahasangha allegedly resorted to violence and broke the glasses of several vehicles and took out air from the wheels of private taxis and even attacked the drivers near Master Canteen Square, provoking police action.
The Commissionerate police arrested four persons in this connection, sources said.
Around 1.5 lakh members of the auto-rickshaw drivers’ body from across the State joined the dawn-to-dusk stir.
The 12-hour strike began from 6 am with the auto-rickshaws being off the roads in the capital city and other parts of the State. The association has been protesting the entry of foreign app-based auto and taxi service providers into the State which they say would affect their job prospects.
The protestors hit the streets also demanding provision of social security to auto-rickshaw drivers, a special auto transport policy by the State Government, a uniform rate chart for all service providers in the field and solution to the auto parking problem.
“The private foreign taxis have declared their own rate charts violating the Government guidelines. There is prepaid auto service introduced in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar for which the rate chart has been fixed by the appropriate Government authorities, but the private agencies have come up with their own charts adversely affecting the livelihood of the poor auto-rickshaw drivers,” alleged Mahasangha working president Naba Kishore Mohanty.
However, the association suspended its stir in the afternoon after a discussion with Transport Minister Ramesh Chandra Majhi here. Besides Mohanty, Mahasangha president Subash Singh and secretary Padman Kumar Samal attended the meeting.