Auto-taxi strike postponed to Sept 1 after govt steps in

But a strike and a demonstration by two different unions threaten to cause trouble for commuters this week

A proposed auto-taxi strike called by two unions, which would have led to chaos on Monday, has now been postponed to September 1 thanks to an intervention by the state government on Sunday evening.

But a strike and a demonstration by two different unions threaten to cause trouble for commuters this week. The city’s biggest autorickshaw union in the city — Mumbai Autorickshaw Men’s Union — has announced a day-long agitation on Wednesday, which means autorickshaws will remain off the roads on that day. On Tuesday, another union Mumbai Rickshawmen’s Union has planned a demonstration outside the transport commissioner’s office in Bandra that could lead to traffic snarls in the western suburbs. Agitations by the unions in the city are likely to continue until the state government resolves the issue of the app-based taxi services.

State transport minister Diwakar Raote intervened to postpone the indefinite strike on Monday announced by two new unions, Swabhiman Taxi and Rickshaw Union and Jai Bhagwan Taxi Rickshaw Sanghatana (JBTRS). The unions want immediate ban on the intra-city operations of app-based taxi aggregator vehicles like Uber and Ola, but postponed the agitation after receiving a call from Raote.

The state will now hold a meeting with all the stakeholders and take a decision on the issue of app-based aggregators.

Whether a decision can be taken, however, remains to be seen as a policy decision in the matter has been delayed.

“Got a call from Maharashtra transport minister that government will take final call on Ola and Uber for which he has called meeting on September 1 with all the unions. So our tomorrows (sic) protest is postponed let’s see what happens on the September 1 or we are ready to take this ahead in our way,” tweeted Nitesh Rane, founder of Swabhimaan Sangathna.

JBTRS leader Bala Sanap said, “We postponed the July 26 agitation owing to the intervention of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Now we are postponing the Monday agitation after Raote’s intervention, but if we don’t get any firm decision on September 1, we will go ahead with the strike for sure.”

Shashank Rao, president of Mumbai Autorickshaw Men’s union, said, “We are agitating on Wednesday for sure to oppose the illegal ferrying of commuters in private vehicles and to demand ban on app-based aggregators like Uber and Ola.