With fuel costs surging and app aggregators squeezing margins, drivers say 15 years of fare stagnation has pushed them to breaking point
Commuters across Delhi-NCR braced for significant disruption Thursday as over 68 transport unions launched a three-day “chakka jam,” paralysing app-based cabs, auto-rickshaws and commercial taxis through May 23.
The strike, coordinated under the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) and the United Front of All Transport Associations (UFTA), centres on one long-festering grievance taxi and auto fares in the region have not been revised in nearly 15 years, even as fuel prices have climbed relentlessly.
The timing is pointed. Petrol in Delhi now stands at ₹98.64 per litre, diesel at ₹91.58 and CNG at ₹80.09 per kg — following two separate hikes within a single week, amounting to nearly ₹4 per litre overall since May 15.
Drivers describe a financial squeeze from multiple directions: soaring fuel bills, vehicle maintenance, insurance, loan EMIs and commissions extracted by aggregators like Ola, Uber and Rapido. “We work ten to twelve hours and still cannot make ends meet,” said Chalak Shakti Union vice-president Anuj Kumar Rathore.
Authorities have yet to announce any fare revision.
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