Mumbai: Taxi, auto rickshaw unions defer strike till Sept 1 after Transport Minister Diwakar Raote intervenes

Diwakar Raote will hold a meeting with all stakeholders on September 1 to hear the demands of the union leaders and place the government's stand before them.

Updated: August 29, 2016 12:56 AM IST

By India.com News Desk

Bharat Bandh Mumbai 8th December

Mumbai, Aug 28: The proposed taxi and auto rickshaw strike in Mumbai from Monday has been deferred till September 1. The decision was taken after state transport minister Diwakar Raote intervened and urged the union leaders to hold back the strike. Raote assured that the government would pay heed to their demand and implement the ‘City Taxi Scheme’ at the earliest. Following the assurance given by the transport minister, Bala Sanap, leading the Jai Bhagwan Taxi Rickshaw Sangathana (JBTRS), along with Swabhiman Taxi and Rickshaw Sanghatana decided to put the strike on hold. As of now it is not clear whether other transport unions, including the Automen’s Union will postpone the strike. Those auto rickshaw drivers affiliated to the latter, were planning to join the strike from Tuesday. According to reports, a section of BEST workforce was also planning to join the strike from August 31. However, no confirmation about the same has been given by BEST Kamgar Sena.

Diwakar Raote will hold a meeting with all stakeholders on September 1 to hear the demands of the union leaders and place the government’s stand before them. Both the unions have made it clear that they would go on a strike if no positive outcome emerges from the meeting. (ALSO READ: Promto to launch 10,000 bike taxis across India in 3 years)

The ‘City Taxi Scheme’ was planned in 2015 with the intent of regulating aggregator-based cab services. The unions have complained about the ‘surge policy’ scheme of the taxi operators like Uber and Ola, which allows them to charge more during peak hours and lucratively reduce the rate during the off-beat hours. Unions had further demanded that the aggregator-based cabs should be subjected to the rules under Motor Vehicles Act.

Shiv Sena affiliated Shivsangram Sangathana has also supported the demand of the unions. The have warned to launch a strike after Ganpati festival.

On Sunday, Transport Commissioner Pravin Gedam held an emergency meeting with the union leader in an attempt to avert the strike. However, the meeting failed to provide any positive result. It was only after transport minister reached out to the union leaders later in the day, they decided to roll back the strike.

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