Lukewarm response to yellow taxi strike, services not hit

Kolkata: Yellow taxi strike had less impact on the commuters as sufficient number of taxis plied on the roads on Monday.

"Every day, I go to the office by yellow taxi. Today, I boarded a yellow taxi from Park Circus and went to my office at Esplanade," said Asfa Khanam, a commuter. Sufficient numbers of taxis were available at Howrah and Sealdah stations.

"There are 22,000 yellow taxis plying in and around Kolkata. At present, around 9000 yellow taxis are plying daily due to COVID - 19 pandemic. Today also around 9000 yellows plied across the city," said Sambhu Nath De, general secretary of Progressive Taximen's Union.

West Bengal Taxi Operators' Co-ordination Committee affiliated to AITUC had called a 24-hour yellow taxi strike on Monday, demanding fare hike. Nawal Kishor Shrivastav, convenor of WBTOCC, reiterated that the price of diesel has shot up by Rs 10 during the last four months and the taxi fare is constant. The minimum fare should be increased from Rs 30 to Rs 50 (for two kilometers).

The fare per kilometer should be Rs 25 instead of the present Rs 15.