Delhi taxis and rickshaws strike on Tuesday demanding higher fares

Commuters are once more being held to ransom while rickshaws and taxis stay off the streets of New Delhi in Tuesday. Their usual demands for higher fares are the reason despite the fact that the Delhi Government has assured them that their views will be taken into account and a decision will be arrived at within the next 15 days. But then patience has never been their strong point and no waiting for Government dictats as the auto and taxi drivers took law into their own hands and went ahead with the strike immune to the hardship and adversity being faced by Delhi commuters.

Besides higher tariffs, the Delhi rickshaw and taxi unions are also against a new Government directive to install global positioning systems in their vehicles. Who is going to bear the cost of this costly equipment is their concern. To counter effect the difficulties being faced by commuters Delhi Transport Corporation will ensure that additional buses ply on the streets throughout the day.

However, protests are divided and while some rickshaw and taxi unions have joined the strike and even met with the Delhi Transport Minister Mr. Ramakant Goswami some unions are shying away and have taken a decision not to participate in the strike. However all unions are of the opinion that they will not be able to bear the cost of installation of a GPS device by Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System Limited which comes at an astronomical cost of Rs.13,500 which will be out of reach of most rickshaw and taxi drivers in the city.