Counting underway for Bengal’s 6 Assembly seats, Trinamool leads in three
Counting is underway for bypolls to six Assembly constituencies in West Bengal. As per the early trends, Trinamool Congress led three of the six Assembly constituencies.
The taxi operators in the city have decided to continue providing services till 14 July but will stop plying vehicles if their demands are not met by 15 July. The decision comes after a meeting of the taxi unions with the officials of the state transport department.
Earlier this week, three taxi operators’ unions namely Bengal Taxi Association, Calcutta Taxi Association and West Bengal Drivers Welfare Association had threatened to withdraw their fleet off the city roads from tomorrow, if the minimum fare was not raised to rupees 50 in place of the present rupees 30.
Their demand in the basic fare came after the hike in the fuel prices.
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Like the three unions, members of the AITUC affiliated West Bengal Taxi Operators’ Co-ordination Committee have also demanded a revision in the taxi fare.
The taxi operators under the organisation have written a letter to the chief minister yesterday demanding Rs.25 for per additional kilometre instead of Rs.15 along with the minimum fare of Rs. 50.
They have also urged for a hike in waiting charge of Rs. 2.50 in place of the present Rs.1.30 for every two minutes twelve seconds. “Considering the soaring fuel prices, our operators are finding it very difficult to roll out their taxi. We have decided to wait for some more weeks till 14 July. If our demands are not met by 15 July, we will have no options than to withdraw our fleet,” said Bimal Kumar Guha, general secretary of Bengal Taxi Association.
Meanwhile, the private bus and mini bus operators, remaining firm on their stand, have decided to submit a deputation to chief minister Mamata Banerjee urging her to allow a revision in the fare chart. The bus owners have also resolved to submit a similar memorandum to the governor on the skyrocketing fuel prices.
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