Mumbai black and yellow taxis go off roads again demanding ban on Uber, Ola

Commuters in Mumbai may have a hard time getting around the city on Tuesday as several thousand taxis are expected to be off the roads in protest, not long after a similar agitation a few months ago. [caption id=“attachment_2415850” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “] Representational image. Image courtesy: Reuters[/caption] The Hindustan Times  reported that the protest has been called by the Swabhiman Taxi-Rickshaw Union, led by Nitesh Rane, the son of Congress leader Narayan Rane. The strike has been called to demand for a ban on operators such as Ola, Uber and Taxi For Sure. The operators are said to be negatively affecting the business of the traditional black-yellow taxis. However, according to the report, the bigger taxi unions will not be part of the protest. The Times of India has quoted a leader of the union, K K Tiwari as saying that they would take a demonstration of about 10,000 drivers to the transport commissioner’s office to press for their demands. The report has also  quoted A L Quadros, the leader of the biggest taxi union in the city, as saying that the protest is merely a political stunt. In June this year, taxis went on a similar strike , affecting transport in the city. K K Tiwari had then claimed that the taxi aggregators were plying cabs “illegally” and that traditional taxis were not getting long-distance customers because of them. Twitter users strongly voiced their discontent on the strike, saying that traditional taxis are losing public goodwill because of the move.