Taxi Union calls for a 12-hour strike in Mumbai on January 18

The union has alleged that limiting black-and-yellow taxi drivers to the pick-up point at airports and allotting counters to private cab aggregators is unfair.

A union of black-and-yellow taxi and cool cab drivers in the city has called for a 12-hour strike on January 18. The Kamgar Seva Sangh has said neither has the city taxi scheme been implemented for the past one year, nor has any welfare scheme for taxi drivers been taken up by authorities.

The union has alleged that the police fine taxi drivers, confiscate their licences without verifying passengers’ complaints. (Representational Image)

The union has alleged that limiting black-and-yellow taxi drivers to the pick-up point at airports and allotting counters to private cab aggregators is unfair. It added that the police fine taxi drivers, confiscate their licences without verifying passengers’ complaints. “The taxi drivers are suffering a lot on a daily basis. Request of toll exemption for black-and-yellow taxis and cool cabs have not been accepted despite us asking that taxis which are empty should be exempted from the toll,” said Krishna Hegde, president, Kamgar Seva Sangh.

However, the strike is not supported by the biggest taxi union. The Mumbai Taximen’s Union, which has more than 25,000 taxi drivers as its members, has said that it is uncalled for. “The strike is uncalled for and we will not be supporting it. We have kept our issues in front of the transport department and are confident that the concerns will be addressed soon,” said AL Quadros, leader, Mumbai Taximen’s Union.