NEW DELHI: Two months after the Delhi government relaxed restrictions amid coronavirus outbreak, auto drivers in the city struggle to keep afloat as they face weak demand and financial pressure.
They rue that very few people are stepping out and availing their services, while private financiers are forcing them to pay back the loans taken by them.
With people still keeping indoors due to the coronavirus scare, autorickshaw drivers are finding passengers with much difficulty these days, with most finding it hard to survive, say auto union leaders.
Over 95,000 registered autos ply on city roads and most run in shifts. With the lockdown, a large number of auto drivers who drove rented vehicles left for their home states, they say.
Many took their auto back to their home states. Some have returned, but most are waiting for the pandemic to subside to come back, says Rajender Soni, general secretary, Delhi Autorickshaw Sangh.
“It has now become difficult to feed our families due to a sharp decline in demand as people are not stepping out. What worsens the situation for auto drivers is that they have taken loans and financiers are putting pressure on them for payment,” he says.
Many auto drivers complain that they are being forced by financiers to pay the instalments of loans threatening to confiscate their vehicles.
“I took a loan of Rs 2.5 lakh from a private financier who is now demanding payment and is threatening to tow away my auto. I have a family of five, and last month I underwent an operation.
"I do not earn enough to feed my family let alone pay the instalment,” says Pradeep Ahuja, an auto driver.
Soni says his union has urged the government to waive off the interest on auto and taxi loans for the entire year in view of the pandemic and its economic impact.