Unions plan to intervene in PIL against hike

City-based taxi and autorickshaw unions said they would ill be intervening in the petition filed by the Mumbai Grahak Panchayat (MGP) and request the Bombay High Court not to review the Hakim committee report.

City-based taxi and autorickshaw unions said they would ill be intervening in the petition filed by the Mumbai Grahak Panchayat (MGP) and request the Bombay High Court not to review the Hakim committee report.

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The court directed a review of the Hakim committee recommendations after th consumer body filed a public interest litigation (PIL) demanding immediate stay on the tariff hike.

“MGP have filed the petition by hiding certain facts from the court. Initially, we had opposed the one-man panel and approached high court, which directed us to make representation to the same committee. We oppose any review of the report now,” said Sharad Rao, president, Mumbai Autorickshawmen’s Union.

AL Quadros from Mumbai Taximen’s Union said: “If the high court wants to appoint a committee to review the report, then the unions should be made part of it,” he said.

Demanding action on over 40,000 illegal autorickshaws in the city, Rao said vehicle identification card for authorised autos should be issued. “In Mumbai, 1.42 lakh autos run on CNG, while only 98,000 are authorised. We want the card so that legal ones can identified when they go for refuelling,” he said.