The 24-hour strike announced by the Federation of Karnataka State Private Transport Associations on Monday was withdrawn at 2.30 pm on on the same day after Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy assured action would be taken regarding their demands.
The federation called for the bandh after the government failed to take action regarding its 27 demands, the majority of which were about banning bike taxis and withdrawing the Shakti scheme that has impacted the earnings of private transport and auto-rickshaws.
Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy met the protestors at the Freedom Park on Monday afternoon and agreed to fulfil most of their demands. He assured that measures would be taken to vacate the stay on the Rapido bike case and ban illegally running bike taxis.
He also said that the government aggregator application to combat the complaints about high commissions taken by existing aggregator apps is currently under development. However, he noted that the Shakti scheme cannot be withdrawn.
The minister noted that there will be meetings with the transport commissioner on Tuesday and requested time to fulfil the federation’s demands after consulting with the Chief Minister. The federation has agreed to take back the call for the strike on his assurance but noted that if they didn’t receive any updates in a day’s time, they would go on a hunger strike.
“I am on their side. I am ready to do what is needed for them,” he said.
The bandh had affected airport-bound and office-bound people in the city. Several buses were seen running at full capacity, especially to and from the airport, while private vehicles were zooming past each other on the roads.
Former Indian cricketer Anil Kumble took the BMTC bus from the airport as taxis and autos were off the roads. He posted a picture of himself on X (formerly Twitter) and captioned it ‘BMTC trip back home today from the airport’.
Published 11 September 2023, 10:02 IST