Auto drivers threaten to strike work

Days after CNG prices were revised once again, various unions of auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers in the city have threatened to go on an indefinite strike.

Days after CNG prices were revised once again, various unions of auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers in the city have threatened to go on an indefinite strike.

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The unions have alleged that the Delhi government has been dilly-dallying on the revision of auto and taxi fares even as drivers are finding it extremely difficult to run their households due to the steep increase in CNG prices.

"We are giving the government 15 days. If it does not revise the fares, we will go on an indefinite strike," Bhartiya Auto-Rickshaw Chalak Sangh president Rajendra Soni said.

Auto-rickshaw drivers said CNG prices have increased from Rs 21.90 per kg to Rs 39.90 per kg since the fare was revised in June 2010.

Transport minister Ramakant Goswami confirmed that a committee has been formed but its recommendation has been kept in abeyance.

"The government had given an additional increase of 50 paise per kilometre in June 2010, so that the owners could get GPS installed in their vehicles. They have not kept their promise," the minister said.