The taxi unions have claimed that the number of their drivers have further dropped by 30 percent. This is primarily due to the recent hike in traffic fines as they feel burdened. There are barely 10-12000 black and yellow taxis and total drivers too have dropped to 20,000 or so. Moreover, the auto-rickshaw unions have demanded reimbursement for money that has been hiked owing to fuel rise which comes to around 64 paise per km. These points were discussed on January 27 in a meeting.
This online meeting was part of the Sub-Committee formed by the State Transport Department to look into the issues of black and yellow taxis and auto rickshaw unions. According to sources in the regional transport office (RTO), the taxi unions stated that their drivers are avoiding getting their vehicles on road on grounds that the revised traffic fines are too much for them to bear.
Confirming the same, Mumbai Taximen’s Union leader A L Quadros said, “Our drivers have been complaining that they are asked to pay fine even if they have simply stopped on a No Parking lane and not parked their vehicle. They are on the move, waiting for passengers. The Traffic Police are also levying fines for obstruction of vehicular traffic. We have discussed these points at the meeting”.
Explaining the drop, Quadros added that there were around 20000 black and yellow cabs on road during these Covid times. These further came down to 15-17000 taxis or so as many drivers haven’t returned. There are close to 25-27000 cab drivers or so. “Now with drivers avoiding to come on the road, their numbers have dropped by 25-30 percent. This will also bring down the availability of cabs. The drivers don’t have money to pay so much as fines,” added Quadros. Since late last year, the Compounding Traffic Fines were revised that went up by up to 10 times as well on certain offences.
Meanwhile, the auto-rickshaw unions have made a few suggestions in this meeting. Primarily the auto-rickshaw unions have been demanding fare hikes and revising the base fare to Rs 24 from the existing Rs 21. One of the primary reasons is the consistent hike in CNG prices over the past few months. Plus there has been a hike in repair and maintenance costs of auto rickshaws.
According to auto-rickshaw unions’ calculations that have been presented to the government, there has been an increase of Rs 1.28 per km. “Out of this 64 paise is only from a hike in CNG and the rest is from an increase in overall maintenance cost. We have demanded fare hike or at least reimburse all the auto-rickshaws the way they are giving a grant to BEST Undertaking,” said Thampi Kurien, an auto-rickshaw union leader.
As per the calculations made, over the past few months due to the CNG price hike, the total rise in maintenance costs comes to Rs 1.28 per kilometer. The unions have asked for a grant that is equivalent to 64 paise for 80 km (which as per formulae is the daily average paid journey) per day and for 2.20 lakh plus autos registered in Mumbai. If this doesn’t work out then a fare hike.
