Yellow taxis to stay off roads today

Kolkata: Yellow taxi operators have called for a 24-hour-strike on September 21, demanding fare hike.

"Yellow taxis will be off roads on Monday. The strike will encompass the metropolitan area of Kolkata, including North 24-Parganas and the Howrah-Hooghly area. We have

sent several letters to the State Transport department seeking fare hike. But taxi fare has not been hiked by the state government," said Nawal Kishor Shrivastav, convenor of West

Bengal Taxi Operators' Co-ordination Committee affiliated to AITUC.

He reiterated that the price of diesel has shot up by Rs 10 during the last four months and the taxi fare is constant. The yellow taxi operators demanded that the minimum fare should be increased from Rs 30 to Rs 50 (for two kilometers). This apart, the government should also provide health insurance to the taxi drivers.

There are 22,000 yellow taxis plying across Kolkata and its adjoining areas. At present, only 7000 yellow taxis are running on the roads because the operation cost of running a taxi has increased three hundred times and the fare is constant.