manoj

Be prepared and make your own private transport arrangements on Saturday (January 20) as services of all yellow board taxis, maxi cabs, luxury tourist taxis, city taxis, call taxis and rent-a-cab will be withdrawn from 6 am to 6 pm.

The worst hit will be trucks, which are bulk of the vehicles to be off the roads. Essential services will be however spared from the strike call, the All India Transport Congress members said. Over 50,000 vehicles including 15,000 taxis and maxi-cabs will be off the roads on Saturday in support of the all India Transport strike called to protest the steep hike in insurance premium, road tax and inter-state permit fees.

Transportation from and to city railway station, airport and bus terminuses will be hit following the strike.

Bangalore Tourist and Taxi Owners Association (BTTOA) K S Thantry stated that major transport service providers to call centers and BPOs have expressed their support for the cause and will to pull out vehicles. Dinish K, CMD of Valsala Travels, said, “the cost of operating cabs has increased by three folds. A hike of 150 per cent in insurance premium and steep road tax has affected us in a big way.” The bandh will affect the IT industry as more than 2 lakh people depend on company transport.

However, Rajashekara, owner of SRS Transport, said, “It is impossible to pull out vehicles on Saturday. We need to inform the IT companies in advance. Only three days is left and we cannot participate in the bandh. We support the cause but we are not participating in the strike.’’ SRS has over 3,000 vehicles working for several IT and BPO companies.

Source: http://epaper.timesofindia.com (Bangalore Edition)
Date Of Publish: 17-Jan-07

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