The trouble for app based cab aggregators doesn’t seem to end with auto and taxi unions opposing the services of these companies. Firms such as Ola cabs who recently suspended their bike taxi service after being termed illegal will now be under more pressure as the Taxi and auto unions in Delhi have threatened to go on strike.
The reason cited for this strike being that the app based cab services were taking away their means of livelihood. The phenomenon, which has been seen earlier on various occasions in the city of Mumbai, has now spread to Delhi as well. The Delhi Autorickshaw Sangh as well as the Delhi Pradesh taxi union have written to the Transport Minister of Delhi, Gopal Rai, demanding that all the app based private players be stopped.
As a mark of protest, the unions plans to go on a 2 day strike (March 15th and 16th) claiming that the app based services take away their source of income. According to reports, there are an estimated 13,000 black and yellow cabs and 81,000 autos playing in the capital of the country.
Rajendra Soni, the general secretary of both the unions threatened the government that if their demands are not met immediately, the unions will take all their vehicles off the road on the proposed dates. He further added that the app based taxi services, which are reportedly not following the rules, were affecting their business and hence they could not sit quiet.
The news comes days after MNS party founder Raj Thackeray said that all autos with new permits would be set on fire as the majority of the permits went to people from outside the state instead of it being given to “the sons of the soil”. The chief of the political party took a u-turn on his words by ordering a stay on the burning of autos until further instructions were given.
Source: ET Auto
The regular autos and taxis are thieves! They never follow the fare meter and are not ready to ply on every route. The app based cabs come cheaper than these autos and offer much more comfort. Why would any sane person want to take an auto for higher price? The government should act rational and be pro end user and not favor any unions. The best step forward would be to regularize these autos and taxis.
Yup they should go to strike permently
I wish the regular auto and taxi services go on strike permanently as their services are hopeless, if not they better adopt the new system and they themselves get regulated in the manner as OLA or whatever. Also they better stick to reasonable fares.
Why not State and Central Govt take the initiative to network/regulate them (for these black and yellow cab service) on the lines of `OLA’ and airport taxi service . Firstly these B&Y cab service are to blame themselves, as they have been the root cause for excessive/unreasonable demands on the customers paving the way for entry of these app based cab services.