BTA writes to New Bengal Transport minister on revising fare

The Bengal Taxi Association has written to state's new Transport minister Subhendu Adhikary demanding a rise in taxi fare and review the system of slapping fines against drivers.
Association Secretary Bimal Guha today stated that there was no hike in taxi fare for over four years though expenses of everyday commodities escalated.
"The last time taxi fare was raised was in November 2012. Since then the prices of fuel has gone up manifold besides daily life expenses increased three times though the taxi fare remained same... We had requested the then transport minister Madan Mitra many times on the same grounds but the problem remained unsolved," Guha said.

"(Now) We want the new minister to look into the matter," he added.
The BTA missive came in the wake of last midnight's hike in petrol and diesel prices, the second increase in rates this month.
A copy of the Association's letter was also sent to state transport secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay and city police commissioner Rajeev Kumar, he said.

In the letter, Guha said, they have requested the minister to "consider" training drivers at the Police Training Institute instead of fining them with an hefty amount for violating rules for petty mistakes like parking the vehicle at no parking zones.

"We have requested the authorities to give us some time in next ten days for a meeting to discuss these issues. Though at the moment we are not considering of calling strikes, if there is no response from the government, we will take a decision as the situation warrants," Guha said.
Taxi associations in 2014 had gone for several flash strikes protesting police atrocities on drivers besides other issues like fare-hike and setting up separate taxi stands in the city.