Two-hour taxi protest at Kolkata airport

Pre-booked and luxury taxis staged a two-hour protest blockade at Kolkata airport in the early morning hours on Tuesday over alleged imposition of wrong parking norms.

Biswajit Mitra, convenor of the North 24 Parganas unit of the Joint Council of Luxury Taxi Association, accused the parking agency in Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport Airport here of flouting the directives of the Airports Authority of India -- which allow 10-minute stoppage time for commercial vehicles in the airport's car lanes for pick-up and drop.

"The parking agency, led by its owner Babulal Yadav, has been tampering with the time allotted for pick-up and drop and is forcing the white taxis (app-based pre-booked cabs and luxury cabs) to pay hefty amounts as parking charges," Mitra told IANS.

Mitra alleged that the blockade started following an altercation between a luxury taxi driver and people working in the parking agency over parking fees which, he said, were "unjustified".

"Following the assault on the driver at 5.30 a.m., a consensus emerged between the white taxi drivers in the airport area, who staged the demonstration from 7.00 a.m. to 9.00 a.m.," he said.

Passengers arriving at the airport complained of lack of availability of luxury taxis in the morning hours. However, there was no disruption in the airport's normal routine.