Commuters in Kolkata are facing a harrowing time for the second day on Tuesday after more than 20,000 cabs decided to go off the road on a two-day strike on July 1 and 2.
The West Bengal Online Cab Operators’ Guild (WBOCOG) and an organisation of luxury taxis that provide vehicles for government offices, jointly called the strike to protest the exploitation of cab aggregators. On the second day – Tuesday – the yellow taxis that do not run through mobile phone app bookings too went off the roads, joining WBOCOG in their strike.
The yellow cab owners and drivers have planned a protest rally to Lalbazar this afternoon. They said that there was no response from the state transport department despite appealing to the government about their problems several times.
Those running their cabs independently and did not join the strike were attacked on Monday by those who were participating in the strike. Three persons were arrested for damaging a car on Monday.
The few cabs that remained on the streets had increased their fares several times over, and it was tough for most people to find cabs that could reach them to their destination within time and/or within reasonable rates.
Those who had reached Kolkata on Monday and Tuesday through the NSC Bose International Airport, Howrah and Sealdah stations had a tough time finding transport to reach various parts of the city.
The demand has been primarily reduction of commission taken by aggregators as the main part of the maintenance and expenditure is borne by the cab owners. A number of taxi drivers’ IDs have been blocked unfairly, the association members said.
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