Autorickshaw Protest

Autorickshaws in the city sport black flags in protest against the raise in the price of fuel. Autorickshaw unions here are providing enough indications that they may not stop with demanding Rs. 20 as the minimum fare, as against the Rs. 14 fixed by the Government. They may ask for Rs. 25 for the first one-and-a-half km, even as their demand for Rs. 20 is yet to be considered by the district administration.

President of the Federation of Coimbatore District Autorickshaw Workers’ Unions P.K. Sukumaran said on Monday that the rise in the price of petrol by Rs. 5 would now force them to ask for a higher minimum fare than what they had been demanding at successive meetings with a committee formed by the administration to arrive at a meter fare. Coimbatore has been struggling to arrive at a fare even one-and-a-half years after the Government announced the new fare.

While the Government announced Rs. 14 as the fare for the first two km, the unions here have been demanding Rs. 20 for one-and-a-half km and Rs. 10 for every successive kilometre. “We made it clear at the last meeting with the administration that if the fuel price went up, say by Rs. 5, we would be forced to demand that the fare be fixed at Rs. 25 instead of the Rs. 20 we had been demanding,” Mr. Sukumaran said. “Now, the petrol price increase is just as we had feared. Therefore, the opinion among all the unions is that the fare must be fixed at Rs. 25. Initially, we had planned to ask for Rs. 12 for every km.

Now, the drivers may settle for the Rs. 10 demanded earlier.” But, the federation president was firm that the minimum fare must be increased. “Apart from the price of fuel, that of spare parts too has increased. If the fare is not increased to the level we have demanded, it will be difficult for about 8,000 autorickshaws in Coimbatore to survive,” he said.

Mr. Sukumaran said that another round of talks the district administration promised to have with the unions was yet to be held. It was supposed to have been the final one, before the demands were to have been passed on to the Government. “We have already made our position clear. Now, the Government should fix the fare soon to enable autorickshaws to be viable for drivers and passengers.” The resentment of the unions over the delay in fixing the fare and the need to increase it in view of the petrol price rise would be conveyed through a demonstration in the city on June 14. Till then, autorickshaws would have black flags to condemn the price rise.

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