Auto union to appeal to lift post-6pm restriction

Pune: Members of autorickshaw and taxi unions on Friday expressed their concerns about the night time travel restrictions.

“Why impose such curbs after 6pm when no lockdown has been announced? We shall appeal to the district administration to lift the 6pm restriction and allow us to ply sanitised autorickshaws,” said Nitin Pawar, the convener of the Pune Autorickshaw Association.

Nitin Verma, the vice-president of the Pune Taxi Association, said, “Already, taxi operators are running into losses and we want the administration to reconsider the decision. We shall continue to offer emergency taxi services after 6pm.”

Maharashtra Rickshaw Panchayat president Baba Kamble said, “Autorickshaws were out of service for more than three months during the lockdown last year. Now, the new restrictions would literally finish them. People are already avoiding going out. Our members could earn only Rs200 per day now. The new restrictions would curtail their earnings by 50%. Due to heat, people prefer to go out in the evenings. Now, we shall have to sit idle at home. Some states have given compensation to the autorickshaw drivers, but we have no such relief yet.”