Delhi's Auto and Taxi Drivers on Two-Day Strike Over Rising Fuel Prices

Ola and Uber cab drivers are also holding a strike from Monday.

Members of auto-taxi unions and drivers raise slogans during a protest over the hike in prices of CNG by the BJP and AAP governments, at Delhi Secretariat, Monday, 11 April.

(Photo: PTI)

With the current price of CNG in Delhi at Rs 71.61 per kg and the fuel prices soaring, several autos, cab, and taxi drivers' associations in Delhi launched a two-day strike on Monday, 18 April.

The Auto and Taxi Association of Delhi, a unit of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh announced that their members would be on a strike in Delhi on 18 and 19 April.

The associations have asked the Delhi government to bring down the fuel prices and increase the fares of cabs and autos.

'Govt Not Paying Heed to Our Demands'

The Delhi government had given an assurance that it would resolve the problems of the drivers, but the protests have not been called off yet. The state government had also formed a committee to decide on the revision of fares in a timely manner.

Rajendra Soni, the general secretary of Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh, stated that they were forced to hold the strike as the Delhi government "is not paying heed to their demands."

Soni added that they had written a letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on 30 March asking him to fulfil their key demands, including a subsidy on CNG prices. He said that no response was received from the government.

He further said that they did not want the fares to be increased as it would affect the public.

"Our only demand is that the government does not hike fuel prices and provide us with subsidised CNG. We demand that the government provide Rs 35 per kg subsidy on CNG prices," he said.

Ola, Uber Drivers Also To Hold Strike

While Soni asserted that the protest would be peaceful, he said some sections that favoured the government might try to disrupt it.

Ola and Uber cab drivers will also be holding a strike from Monday, said Kamaljeet Gill, president of the Sarvodaya Drivers' Association of Delhi.

"While the prices of CNG and petrol have been soaring for the past seven years, Ola and Uber fares have not gone up since 2015. We have protested against this multiple times, but the government has not paid any heed to it," he said.

Gill added that they would not stop the protest until the problem was solved and stated that their association members would be holding strikes in Lucknow, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai from Tuesday.

Locals Feel Pinch of Strike

Meanwhile, several people in Delhi took to social media to share the inconvenience they faced on the first day of the strike.

(With inputs from ANI.)