Months after the transport department froze issuance of fitness certificates to autorickshaws without GPS devices, a section of autorickshaw drivers is threatening to go on strike on December 1. The reason is “excessive” rates of GPS devices being charged by the government.
“Drivers are being harassed, especially those who drive old autos. These vehicles can’t install GPS devices as they are headed for scrap,” an autorickshaw union leader Kishan Verma said. Verma, whose All Delhi Auto Taxi Transporters Congress Union claims to have hundreds of autos affiliated to it, said the one-day strike is to protest the government’s policies.
The call comes with a warning to all drivers and owners not to ply their vehicles on city roads on December 1, else “unsocial” elements may damage their vehicles. “All drivers are united in this matter. If the department doesn’t give in to our demands, we will take the matter further,” Verma threatened.
The fitness certificate needs to be updated by all commercial vehicles every year.
