Chandigarh: Autos, taxis strike on April 12 to protest fallout of rising fuel prices

The union members, while announcing the strike, however, informed that autos will be available outside all private, government hospitals, hence, people facing emergencies will not be inconvenienced in anyway. The union claimed that there are about 40,000 drivers in the TriCity and their livelihoods were being threatened due to the rising prices of petrol, diesel and CNG.

“The aggregator companies and the UT administration does not care about them. The administration merely releases orders notifying a hike in fares for taxis and cabs. They never make any effort to implement the hikes on the ground. Cab aggregator companies too are hesitant in increasing the fares that they charge. Hence, there is no place for the auto and txi drivers to go. On April 12, they will protest against this. All autorickshaw and taxi drivers will do a chakka jam in teh city and no cabs or autos will run in the Tricity. It will be a symbolic but peaceful demonstration. If the demands of the drivers are not accepted, then we may be forced launch an indefinite strike”, Vikram Singh Pundir, convener, Sanyukt Mocha, said.

The Morcha official reiterarated that the demonstration on April 12 will be symbolic and peaceful and hundreds of drivers will also lodge their complaints with the STA. The union members also said that the administration should ensure that there is enforcement of the increased fares that were notified earlier.
They said that the taxi and auto drivers should not become collateral damage between the STA and cab aggregator companies. If any tax or fee was due, then the payment should be made by the aggregator.

The union also demanded that cab companies unblock driver IDs that were put on hold after a minor complaint by the riders. The drivers have the right to know the destination and rate before ride, they said.Pick and drop stops should be made on the lines of CTU bus stops.