Traffic snarls in Delhi as taxi drivers protest ban -Governance Now

Traffic snarls in Delhi as taxi drivers protest ban

Commuters have a tough time due to acute shortage of taxis on Monday

GN Bureau | May 2, 2016

#protest #diesel taxi #supreme court #Traffic jam #app-based cabs

Protesting supreme court’s order to ban diesel taxis in Delhi, cab drivers on Monday blocked several roads in the national capital. Major traffic jam was reported near Rajokri area and Dhaula Kuan to Gurgaon route.

The court on May 30 had refused to give more time to taxi operators to switch to CNG, a cleaner fuel, and banned the diesel-operated taxis to ply in Delhi-NCR region from May 1. Earlier the drivers were twice given the deadline, however, only 2,000 taxis converted to CNG in the last two months The ban imposed also includes app-based taxi services.

According to Delhi's transport department, there are 60,000 registered taxis in the capital, out of which 27,000 taxis run on diesel.

Commuters faced hardship on Monday as most taxis remained off the roads. Booking app-based cabs too was not feasible as fewer taxis were available.

“Banning diesel taxis alone won’t help. Manufacturing and sale of diesel cars should be banned altogether. Bigger luxury cars should be discouraged by imposing double excise-duty. The present system of levying excise-duty on cars according to length should be replaced by imposing it on the basis of ex-factory price,” writes Madhu Agrawal, who holds a guinness record for writing letters to newspapers.

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