By IANS
Hyderabad : More than 100,000 auto-rickshaws will go off the roads in Hyderabad from Monday midnight as the auto drivers’ union has called for an indefinite strike against compulsory installation of digital meters.
The auto drivers are opposing the crackdown by authorities on three-wheelers plying with tampered meters and are resisting mandatory installation of digital meters.
The departments of transport, legal meteorology and traffic police have already seized over 1,000 auto-rickshaws with tampered meters in a three-day drive.
The auto drivers have decided not to install digital meters even if they are provided free of cost. “The authorities are harassing us in the name of digital meters,” complained Amanaullah Khan, convenor, anti-auto digital meters’ struggle committee.
Joint Commissioner of Police C.L.N. Gandhi, however, said the special drive would continue despite the strike.
State-owned Road Transport Corporation (RTC) will operate additional buses during the strike.
The auto-rickshaw drivers are also demanding that they be allowed to carry upto eight school children in place of six and renewal of permits without insisting on conversion to LPG.
The government had recently proposed replacing auto-rickshaws with taxis to ease traffic congestion in four years with loans at cheaper interest rates. However, a section of auto drivers are opposing this move.