Their demands ‘ ignored by both Centre, Delhi govt’, taxi, transporters association to boycott elections

New Delhi: Expressing anger against the Centre and Delhi’s AAP government over their longpending demands such as scrapping of panic buttons, speed governors and toll tax charges, the Delhi Taxi Tourist Transporters and Tour Operators Association on Wednesday declared that the union members and their families will boycott the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

The association has around 1,50 0 people, including 1,0 0 0 drivers, as its members.

“We have been raising some of the issues for nearly a decade... both the central as well as the AAP ( govt) have ignored us... So, it is now time for us to ignore them,” said Sanjay Samrat, president of the association.

He further said, “The Delhi government's Transport Department has been installing panic buttons to track the location of commercial tourist taxis and buses for many years... government- empanelled private players and DIMITS take Rs 15,000 and Rs 2,850 respectively for SIM cards for the purpose... But these panic buttons don't even work.”

The association further said that due to speed limits on highways and expressways, they can only travel at a speed of 80 kms per hour, while the limit of a private car is up to 120kms.

“This not just poses a constant threat to drivers but also to tourists, especially women as highway robbers often loot vehicles by overtaking them. Fastags is another big problem, the money is deducted automatically even if the driver is not in that particular location... we are tired,” said Samrat.

The association alleged that despite repeated requests, neither Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his ministers nor central government ministers have heard them out.