Taxis in several parts of the city went off roads on Monday after 10 taxis were found damaged by unknown persons at Dharavi, Worli and Chembur.
There were reports of a flash strike called by a taxi union floated by the Republican Party of India, but RTO officials said they had no information of the same.
“Following the attacks on the taxis, about 5,000 drivers chose to stay off roads out of fear. There were rumours of a strike, but there was no notice nor memorandum regarding it.
I heard that cabbies were protesting against Home Minister R R Patil’s decision to increase the fine for not wearing uniforms from Rs 100 to Rs 300,” said A L Quadros, leader of Mumbai Taximen’s Union.
The disruption in services, however, inconvenienced hundreds of commuters, including incoming passengers at Mumbai airport.
As a contingency plan, the airport authorities deployed buses to ferry passengers to nearby railway stations. “There was a problem regarding pre-paid cabs early morning, but later in the day services resumed,” an airport official said.
According to sources, another issue which may have fuelled the protest is RTO’s decision to scrap illegal taxis. In a recent drive RTO officials found over 1,000 taxis in which the chassis number had been replaced.
“Taxi owners welded chassis numbers of older Fiat taxis into relatively newer vehicles. The transport department took action against them,” a transport official said.
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2 ... maged.html
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