KOCHI: A meeting convened by the district administration to bring an end the recurring incidents of clashes between online taxi operators, auto rickshwas and taxi drivers has decided to resolve the issue amicably. District collector Muhammad Y. Safirulla, who chaired the meeting, said that thousands of tourists are going to be in the city in the next two weeks on account of Christmas and New Year holidays and requested both the online and traditional taxi operators to function without creating any problems for the visitors, an official release said on Thursday.
The collector pointed out that strict actions would be taken against those creating law and order problems. Passengers should also be treated with dignity, he added. If the current issues are not resolved amicably it would hit the tourism adversely, he said and pointed out that both online and traditional taxi operators would suffer in such a situation.
The administration would bring all issues connected with the dispute, including the protection of the jobs of traditional taxi operators, to the attention of the government. Both parties should agree to adhere to the existing rules and court orders. Apart from the collector ADM Paraksh C.K., RTO P.H. Sadiq Ali, police officials and representatives of auto rickshaw unions and online taxi operators attended the meeting.
