Hyderabad: The state government will come up with its own app for aggregating cabs, to address the long-pending demands of around 40 lakh people who are engaged in the private transport sector. Sources said that transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar shared the idea with a delegation of private transport unions.
The private transport community welcomed the news and said this would bring in more transparency, as well as eliminate commissions earned by private players. Among the major demands of the delegations that met the minister was the setting up of a private transport welfare board and the issuance of more permits for autorickshaws. Of the 40 lakh engaged in the transport sector, 10 lakh are private autorickshaw drivers or owners, and the rest are cabs and taxis.
Alluri Ravi Shankar, all-India general secretary, Bharatiya Private Transport Masdoor Maha Sangh, said, “The minister assured that our demands will be fulfilled after January 26. The officials will be concentrating on the primary roadmap for installing the welfare board.”
He said, “Permit for new autorickshaws was a long-pending demand. Presently, when acquiring a new permit, the old scraped autos are sold for lakhs. If government allots more permits, this black market can be discontinued.”
