Delhi autorickshaws on strike on Oct 16, extra buses to run

New

, Oct 16: Commuters may face difficulty today in Delhi as a number of autorickshaw and taxi operators' unions will go on a

demanding a hike in fares. The unions have not heeded to an assurance by the Delhi government on Monday that a decision on the issue will be taken within 15 days.

The autorickshaw unions have also been protesting the government's directive to install Global Positioning Systems (GPS) in their vehicles due to "high cost" of the equipment.

In view of the strike, the Delhi government asked the Delhi Transport Corporation to deploy as many buses as possible on the road on Tuesday.

Representatives of various autorickshaw unions on Monday held a meeting with Transport Minister Ramakant Goswami, following which a number of unions decided not to participate in the strike while some others refused to reconsider the decision.

"I have told the unions that government will take a decision on the issue of fare within 15 days.

"However, I told them that there can be no review of decision on installation of GPS on autorickshaw," Mr Goswami said.

On installation of GPS, the auto unions told the minister that they will not be able to install the GPS device selected by the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Ltd which would cost Rs 13,500 each.

PTI