Following the hike in diesel price by Rs 5 a litre, over 1 lakh taxis operating in the city under different associations are demanding a fair deal.
While the Bangalore Tourist Taxi Owners Association that operates luxury cabs is seeking a 10-15 per cent hike in fares, the Karnataka City Taxi Association is demanding a considerable hike.
“We have no choice but to demand an increase in fares. We have decided to call a meeting of all the office-bearers and decide by what percentage our fares should be increased. In Bangalore’s traffic, one litre of diesel gives us only 7-8 km mileage. Each of our cabs operates around 100-150 km per day and so we will end up losing a lot,” said president of Karnataka City Taxi Association T Prabhakar.
The taxi associations’ heads from Bangalore will be going to Mumbai on Monday for the All India Transport Congress meeting.
“At this meeting we will decide whether to go on a strike,” said K G Ravindra, All India Chairman (Passenger sector), All India Motor Transport Congress.
K Radha Krishna Holla, General Secretary, Bangalore Tourist Taxi Owners Association, said, “We deal with companies and have already established fares with them. We will write to them now and ensure that they consider our demand seriously.”
However, they will announce their decision on Tuesday.