New Delhi, Apr 18 (PTI) Commuters in Delhi had a harrowing time on Monday as various autorickshaw and taxi unions went on a strike, demanding subsidy on CNG prices and a fare revision in the wake of the rising fuel prices.
Many commuters complained that they had to wait for a long time for Ola and Uber cabs that were available at “inflated rates” due to surge pricing.
People in Delhi are likely to face similar hardships on Tuesday as well.
The Sarvodaya Driver Welfare Association of Delhi, whose members work with cab aggregators, said its strike will continue for another day.
However, the Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh, an umbrella body of auto drivers, said it has no such plan for Tuesday and a decision on further strike will be announced later.
Hardly any autos, cabs and feeder buses were available at railway stations, Inter-State Bus Terminals (ISBT), and metro stations across the city.
Some were caught unawares by the strike.
“I and my family reached Delhi from Raipur this morning. No cabs and autos were available at the New Delhi Railway Station due to the strike. I waited for an hour to get a cab or an auto but in vain. Finally, I had to call up my friend to go home in Ghaziabad,” Vinay Prajapati told PTI.
Another commuter Preeti Dahiya had a hard time trying to hail an auto.
“I have been standing here for around 15-20 minutes and I had to go to Geeta Colony. I tried booking a cab but the waiting time was more than 25 minutes and there was surge pricing. I spotted a few autos but no one agreed to go due to the strike,” said Dahiya who was standing near the Patel Chowk metro station.
She said auto drivers were only willing to undertake short trips of 2-3 kms.
Diljeet Singh, another commuter, said, “Every day I take a cab to my office near Central Secretariat and it costs me around Rs 400 for a one-way trip. But today, due to the strike, fewer cabs were available and fares have shot up. I had to pay over Rs 650 to reach my office from Noida.” There are over 90,000 autos and more than 80,000 registered taxis complementing the public transport system in Delhi.
Auto and cab drivers’ unions have been demanding a hike in fares and slashing of CNG prices to offset the impact of the rising fuel prices.
They refused to call off their strike despite an announcement by the Delhi government to set up a committee to consider fare revision in a time-bound manner.
“Our strike was successful in conveying our message. Seeing the difficulties faced by the public, we have decided to postpone our strike. The future course of action will be decided later,” Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh general secretary Rajesh Soni told PTI.
He said the government should either provide a subsidy of Rs 35 per kg on CNG prices or hike fares.
The Sarvodaya Driver Welfare Association of Delhi threatened to go on an indefinite strike if its demands are not accepted.
“Our strike will continue on Tuesday. We have given a two-day ultimatum to the governments (Centre and city) to consider our demands after which we will go on an indefinite strike,” said Ravi Rathore, president of Sarvodaya Driver Welfare Association of Delhi.
Auto and cab drivers also staged a dharna near Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence at Civil Lines later in the day to press their demands.
Small protests were also held at a number of other places including Kashmere Gate ISBT, Rani Bagh and New Delhi Railway Station auto stand.
The Delhi Congress supported the strike and demanded that the Kejriwal government give subsidy on CNG prices.
“The strike has caused tremendous inconvenience to commuters as they were stranded at many places. The chief minister was unmoved by the plight of the people as he refused to meet the auto-taxi unions. CM Arvind Kejriwal should concede their demand for subsidy on CNG,” Delhi Congress president Anil Kumar said in a statement.
In the morning, there were reports claiming that cabs entering Delhi from neighbouring Noida and Ghaziabad were being stopped at border points, adding to the woes of the commuters.
However, cab and auto drivers’ associations said they were not stopping anyone and merely informing fellow drivers about the strike.
“The strike was planned at a short notice so many of the cab and auto drivers from the NCR were unaware of it. Hence, they were told about the strike at Delhi borders and were requested to participate in it after completing their trips,” Rathore said. PTI AKM AKM DIV DIV
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