Autorickshaws in the city will stay off the road on Monday to pressure the State government to reduce taxes on auto liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
The autorickshaw drivers’ strike comes in the wake of the recent hike in auto LPG prices. The price was hiked from Rs. 54.40 to Rs. 65.53 a litre.
“Our main demand is reduction in various taxes levied by the State government, including Value-Added Tax (VAT), cess and service tax. If not, the hike in the price of auto LPG should be rolled back immediately,” said Rudramurthy, general secretary of the Auto Rickshaw Drivers’ Union (ARDU).
The call for a 24-hour strike beginning midnight of Sunday through Monday has been given by the United Struggle Committee of various Autorickshaw Drivers’ Unions in Bangalore, including Adarsha Auto and Taxi Drivers’ Association and Bangalore Auto and Taxi Drivers’ Association.
Mr. Rudramurthy, who is also the convener of the United Struggle Committee of the Autorickshaw Drivers’ Union, however, sought to make it clear that the autorickshaw drivers were not seeking a hike in auto fares.
Autorickshaw fares were revised in Bangalore during the third week of December 2013 with the minimum fare going up from Rs. 20 to Rs. 25 and the fare per kilometre increasing from Rs. 11 to Rs. 13. “A hike in the cost of fuel will hit us . Driving an autorickshaw will become unsustainable for a living,” he lamented.
