The proposed auto-taxi strike called by two unions in Maharashtra has been postponed to the 1st of September, due to intervention from the state transport minister Diwakar Raote, reports the Hindustan Times. The strike is against app-based aggregators like Ola and Uber and calls for regulation of these services. According to the report, the Maharashtra state government has agreed to hold a meeting with the stakeholders to discuss their demands. The protest is led by the Jai Bhagwan Taxi Rickshaw Sanghatana and the union led by Shashank Rao, and was to be undertaken because Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis postponed his meeting on the same topic with the unions and representatives of cab aggregators. In June, the Jai Bhagwan union had protested in Mumbai, asking for action to be taken against cab aggregators for their lower price points. They said that Uber and Ola’s services were offered for Rs 6 per km, whereas the government fixed rate was Rs 8 per km, leading to an alleged wipe out of taxis and autorickshaws in the city. At the time, the union said that taxis would not ply from 26 July if the government did not order an inquiry into the issue. The strike was called off after the union expressed its concerns to Fadnavis. Delhi auto and taxi strike In July, 20 unions of taxi and rickshaw drivers in Delhi went on a strike against cab aggregators. They then formed a Joint Action Committee which claimed to have 85,000 rickshaws and 15,000 black…
