Taxis may not go off the roads in Mumbai on March 19

Union leader Anthony Quadros is not likely to carry out his latest threat to impose an indefinite taxi strike on March 19 to demand an increase in fares due to revision in compressed natural gas (CNG) prices.

Reason: The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Transport Authority (MMRTA), which is presided over by the principal secretary (transport), will meet on Tuesday afternoon to decide on the fare hike and other demands.

After the Mahanagar Gas Ltd increased CNG prices by Rs1.63 per kg in February, auto and taxi unions demanded a hike in minimum fare by Rs5 and Rs4 respectively.

“The union had demanded a Rs4 hike in minimum fare. But, the MMRTA is likely to allow a Re1-hike for the minimum distance and each kilometre thereafter,” said a senior official of the state transport department.

This means the revised fare structure would be Rs17 for the first 1.6km and an additional Rs11 for every subsequent kilometre.
“According to the Hakim committee’s formula, the hike deserved by the drivers due to the rise in CNG prices is estimated to be less than a rupee.”

Principal secretary (transport) SK Sharma said: “I cannot say anything about the quantum of the fare hike. But, we will surely take a decision on Tuesday. There is no reason to impose a strike.”

The previous MMRTA meeting had been scheduled on February 24, but was postponed to March 1, which too was cancelled. This led to a delay in decisions on several pending issues, including a hike in autorickshaws and taxi fares in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. This delay served as a provocation for the latest threat of taxi strike.

But, Quadros gave an assurance that the union will not go ahead with the strike if a decision is taken soon.
“The transport officials have been delaying the meeting. I also had sought to communicate with the principal secretary on several occasions, but he was not willing to commit on a date. We had no option then but to issue a threat to strike,” he said.