Delhiites Struggle As Cab Strike Enters Second Day In National Capital

New Delhi: Delhiites had a hard time reaching their destinations on Friday, the second day of auto-taxi strike in the city and its neighbourhood.

The two-day strike was called by the Delhi Auto Taxi Transport Congress Union, which has been demanding adequate compensation services from app aggregators. The less pay, as well as the introduction of bikes as taxis has been eating into their livelihood, the union have alleged.

Union president Kishan Verma claimed that 95 per cent of the autos and cabs were off roads these two days.

"We will decide on the future course of action after a meeting on Saturday. We received information about certain incidents of vandalism in some areas like Nizamuddin, Anand Vihar, New Delhi Railway Station. We condemn such incidents and the members of unions not participating in the strike were involved in those incidents," he said.

Verma said the union will end its strike at midnight and will resume work.

"If the Centre and the Delhi governments do not call us for talks within 10 to 15 days, we will gherao the prime minister's residence," he said. Fifteen unions are part of the strike in Delhi and the National Capital Region.

Several commuters PTI spoke to said while they had a tough time getting a cab, when they did, the drivers insisted on an inordinate amount as fare.

"I tried booking an auto on an app to reach my residence in Jangpura from the New Delhi railway station but was unable to do so," Vinay Kumar, one such commuter said.

"Though I got an auto, I had to pay Rs 100 extra on the usual fare drivers charge for Jangpura," he said.

Khushboo, a media professional, who travels to Delhi from Gurugram, said, "Cabs were refusing to go to Delhi as drivers feared that they could face resistance." Even the drivers were apprehensive about accepting rides to certain locations.

"The fellow drivers were asking us not to accept rides. Even those who were plying their vehicles on roads were being questioned whether they were doing it through app aggregators or were going offline," a driver said.

Urvashi, who travels to Gurugram for work, said, “I usually take a cab to go to my office in Gurugram but today I took work from home as there was no cab available at the usual fares.”