Daily commuting in Delhi-NCR regions was affected on Thursday after transport unions as well as Ola and Uber drivers protested the hefty fines imposed under the new Motor Vehicles Act. According to reports around 40 transport unions across autos, taxis, private school buses, maxi cabs, Ola and Uber cabs and other large commercial vehicles went on a strike. The strike is scheduled to continue till 10 pm. As many as 50,000 transport vehicles are estimated to have stayed off the roads on Thursday.
Revisiting the heavy fines under the Motor Vehicle Amendment Act 2019, limiting of the insurance firms' liability in cases of accidents by commercial vehicle, revisit the increase in income tax rates for heavy goods vehicles, social security schemes for drivers and their families of commercial vehicles are some of the demands put forward by the unions.
Here are some of the updates from the transport strike:
1. Airlines such as Vistara, IndiGo, SpiceJet, and GoAir have asked fliers to arrange for transport in advance as well as report well ahead of time.
2. While some schools remained closed today, some asked parents to make alternative arrangements to make sure their children reach school on time.
3. According to reports, large groups of protestors stopped cabs and autorickshaws, some even with passengers inside. A video showed protestors tearing off the roof of an autorickshaw.
4. However, the strike called by the United Front of Transport Associations (UFTA) did not have any effect in Gurugram. According to reports, the situation is normal in the city.
5. While office-goers faced difficulties in reaching their workplaces on Thursday morning, services of Delhi Metro and Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses remained unaffected.
6. "For 19 September all companies have been notified that cab services will be affected. We have listed some demands. The government is not ready to listen to our demands, so we have no other choice but to go on strike," said Noida cabs association president Yogesh Sharma.
7. "We have been seeking redressal of our grievances related to the new MV Act from both the centre and the Delhi government for the last 15 days, but no solution is there is sight forcing us to go on one-day strike," UFTA general secretary Shyamlal Gola told news agency PTI.