Bangalore: “I used to spend Rs 200 a day on LPG, but after the recent hike, I spend twice that amount,” said Sunil, an auto driver in Bangalore city.
Soon after the hike was declared, auto rickshaws stopped calibrating their meters, waiting for the government to respond to their memorandum on reducing VAT on LPG.
This reponse hasn’t come their way yet. On Monday, all eight unions jointly protested the treatment meted out to them. If they don’t hear from the government by Jan 24, they will initiate Raj Bhavan Chalo the next day.
The aggressive agitation comes immediately after the Kerala Government decided to forgo VAT on the subsidy component of domestic LPG cylinders in the state.
Rudra Murthy, general secretary of Auto Drivers Union questions, “If the Kerala government can do it, what is stopping the Karnataka government?
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, M Manjunath, president of Adarash Auto Union said, “All we are asking the government to do is bring down the VAT from 14 per cent to 5.5 percent. This will bring down the price of LPG by Rs 7. We waited for the government to get back to us on our demands but they did not. On January 25, we will start our Rajbhawan Chalo campaign and present the memorandum to the Governor. Once the government takes its stand on it, we will decide on calibration of auto meters."
