CNG Price Rise: Auto drivers and taxi drivers across Delhi have called for a strike on Monday, April 18, amid rising fuel prices that have caused the price of compressed natural gas (CNG) to shoot up. The protesting auto and taxi drivers have been demanding a hike in fare rates and the slashing of CNG prices. While some unions have been calling for a day-long strike, others are in for an ‘indefinite’ strike, which may leave commuters in Delhi in a problem. here are over 90,000 autos and more than 80,000 registered taxis complementing the public transport system in Delhi.
Here is Everything You Need to Know on Why Auto, Taxi Drivers are Going on Strike:
– The Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) has been relentlessly raising the price of CNG and PNG (Piped Natural Gas) since March, amid a rise in global crude oil e prices. CNG autos and taxis are more common in Delhi, and a rise in CNG price will affect the drivers directly if fares remain the same. The key demand of the auto and taxi unions is to slash CNG prices and bring them down to the earlier levels.
– CNG price has been hiked by as much as 60 per cent in just one year, taking the price up by Rs 28 per kg, while PNG price shot up by a third. The auto and taxi fares were last revised in 2019 and 2013, respectively. In June 2019, the Delhi government had hiked the fares of auto rickshaws by around 18 per cent over prevailing rates, and the per kilometre charge was raised to Rs 9.5 to Rs 8
– Gas prices have since gone up. On April 14, IGL announced its fifth CNG price hike of the month. That time, it increased the price of CNG by Rs Rs 2.5 per kg and domestic piped natural gas (PNG) by Rs 4.25 per standard cubic meter (SCM) in the Delhi-NCR region. In New Delhi, the price of CNG is currently standing at Rs 71.61 per kg, while for Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad, the CNG price has been hiked to Rs 74.17 per Kg.
– The Delhi government Friday announced setting up a committee for considering a revision of auto and taxi fare in a time-bound manner. However, their unions asserted they will go on a strike on April 18 over their demand to raise the rates in view of the increasing fuel prices as they did not know when the committee would be formed.
– This is not the first time this month that unions have gone on a strike. On April 11, hundreds of auto, taxi and cab drivers staged a protest at the Delhi secretariat, demanding a subsidy on CNG prices. The protest was held under the aegis of the Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh. Bus operators too have announced to join the strike by auto and taxi unions in the city. The auto and taxi association of Delhi had written a letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on April 6 demanding that they be provided with a subsidy of Rs 35 per kg on CNG.
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