Mumbai, July 21: The city’s taxi and auto unions are demanding a fare hike with the price of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) having gone up from Rs 21.70 to Rs 24.65 a kilo.
If the government does not yield, over half the city’s taxis could go on strike. The threat has come from the Mumbai Taximen’s Union (MTU), the city’s largest such organisation with control of an estimated 30,000 of the total 55,000 black-and-yellow taxis.
The MTU wants a hikes of Rs 2 on flag-down and Re 1 per subsequent kilometre. “We have submitted our demands for a revision of minimum fare to Rs 15 from Rs 13 and the fare for subsequent kilometers from Rs 8 to Rs 9. Otherwise, taxi drivers cannot afford to run following the hike in the gas price.
If the government does not consider our demand by Wednesday, we will be left with no choice but to go on strike,” said A L Quadros, general secretary, MTU.
The government is optimistic of an amicable solution. “The union has submitted its demands but not given any time-frame within we should consider those,” said Chandrakant Sontakke, Regional Transport Officer, Central, and also the secretary of the authority that would take a call on the demands. A meeting with the unions is likely by the middle of the week, he said.
Autorickshaw unions plan to submit their demand on Monday. “The minimum fare should be raised by at least Re 1 and that for every subsequent kilometre by 50 paise,” said Tambi Kurien, president, Mumbai Auto Rickshawmen’s Union. Asked if the union is contemplating a strike if its demands are not met, Kurien said, “We’ve not decided on that but all options are open.”
The Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL) raised the prices of CNG and Piped Natural Gas (PNG) from Saturday. The price of CNG had been unchanged for four years, while non-gas costs such as power tariff, reinstatement charges, pipe-laying costs, material costs and other operational expenses increased tremendously.
–Agencies