Auto Taxi Strike: Delhi-NCR auto-taxi drivers have announced a two-day strike beginning August 22 against the low earnings from app-based cab services such as Ola and Uber. The agitation will be led by more than 15 driver unions, including the Taxi Driver Army Union and the Delhi Auto Tricycle Driver Union. Over 100,000 autos and cabs will go off the roads along with around 400,000 taxis.

What Is Behind The Drivers’ Strike?

The unions argue that the rise of app-based cab services drastically reduced the earnings of those drivers, as they cannot support their lives with that reduced income. The unions argued that so far, no effective action has been taken despite repeated appeals from the unions to both the central and state governments. The perceived inaction of the government has become one of the drivers of frustration amongst the drivers, who have gone on strike to bring their plight into focus.

Government Must Act To Save Taxi Jobs

Kishan Verma, the President of the Delhi Auto Taxi Transport Congress Union expressed the concerns of the drivers in a statement to the media ‘For several years we have been writing to governments and departments about companies like Ola and Uber but no one listens. These companies present their side, on which the government presents its side, on which these businesses work. These are a game of donations, so the government is also with them.’  ‘This game must stop,’ Verma said. He warned that the government must at once initiate a decision to save the employment of auto and taxi drivers, which was getting eroded by the very operations of the private cab services.

Delhi: Kishan Verma, President, Delhi Auto Taxi Transport Congress Union says, “For several years, we have been writing to governments and departments about companies like Ola and Uber, but no one listens. These companies present their side, and the government presents its side,… pic.twitter.com/7N0piuuFIH

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— IANS (@ians_india) August 21, 2024

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Cabs Of Illegal Use

Verma had also leveled some serious allegations against the app-based cab services, claiming that they had been using some of these vehicles deployed by their company for illegal activities like smuggling alcohol and drugs. He said the issues only got more complex, and the government should issue a hard response. “To address these issues, we are going on strike. The organization has decided that on August 22 and 23, all auto and taxi services in Delhi NCR will be suspended,” Verma added.

Strike To Ground 100,000 Vehicles

Press reports in the region said that more than 100,000 cabs and autos, along with 400,000 taxis, will be off the roads during the two-day strike. Major unions to have rallied behind the strike are the Taxi Driver Army Union, Delhi Auto Tricycle Driver Union, and Rajdhani Tourist Driver Union, among others. The unions called upon the central and state governments to rein in and act before the situation gets any uglier. As the strike progresses, Delhi-NCR residents are likely to face a lot of commuting problems, with the absence of such a large number of vehicles on the roads likely to create chaos and inconvenience.

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