Maxi cab owners and members of drivers’ associations staged a protest at the RTO office in Udhagamandalam on Tuesday, and parked their vehicles on the Udhagamandalam-Coonoor stretch of the national highway, resulting in a traffic jam from 6.30 a.m. to 9.30 a.m.
The cab owners and drivers wanted permission to allow their vehicles inside Udhagamandalam town. They claimed that there were 150 cabs operating in Udhagamandalam; however, most of these vehicles go on tours with tourists, visiting other parts of the region, leave only about 20 cabs in town.
Speaking to presspersons, the Maxi cab owners said, “We are being harassed by the police and the RTO officials. Summer is the only season we earn money, and if they don’t allow us inside the town, tourists will not take our cabs.”
Following the protest, the RTO and traffic police held a meeting at the RTO office, and decided to allow 50 maxi cabs inside the town, and said the RTO will issue passes for this.
The protest was then called off, and traffic resumed on the highway stretch at 10 a.m.
