Taxi drivers' associations hold protest in Delhi amid soaring fuel prices

Associations of taxi drivers held a protest against the rising prices of fuel at the Barakhamba Road area of Delhi on Friday.

The peaceful demonstration was held between 10 am to 11 am where the participants tied black ribbons on their faces. "The permission was for 80 people. However, around 200 reached Barakhamba Road, parked their vehicles and joined the protest peacefully without saying anything, Kamaljit Gill, Sarvodaya Drivers Association president, was quoted as saying by PTI.

The protesters carried placards and demanded that app-based taxis should be brought under city taxi permit as per the Supreme Court's 2017 order. "App-based taxi drivers charge ₹6 per kilometre. They give 25 per cent to the company as commission, and as the prices of petrol are increasing day by day, it is becoming difficult for them," Gill said.

He also said that his association plans to hold another protest across the nation on March 22 and 23. Other driver associations that were a part of the protest include Sarvodaya Drivers Association, Rajdhani Parivahan, Expert Driver Solution and other similar outfits.

Prices of petrol and diesel in the country have been heading towards ₹100 per litre mark. Currently, prices of petrol in Mumbai and Delhi stands at ₹97.57 and ₹91.17 per litre respectively. Prices of diesel per litre in these two cities are steady at ₹88.60 and ₹81.47 respectively. The fuel prices remained unchanged for sixth straight day today.

In the last two months, price of petrol has gone up by ₹4.87 per litre while that of diesel has risen by ₹4.99 per litre.

As per SBI economists, price of petrol can be brought down to ₹75 per litre across the country if it is brought under the ambit of GST ambit. This can also bring down diesel costs to ₹68 per litre.

(with inputs from agencies)