Siliguri, 16th December: Several taxi drivers, Eastern Himalayas Travel and Tour Operators’ Association (EHTTOA), Himalayan Hospitality-Tourism Development Network (HTDN), and various organizations staged a protest at Darjeeling More on Wednesday. A rally was also taken out, which commenced from the said area and concluded at Siliguri Junction.
In this context, the taxi drivers said that their business suffered extreme losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Reportedly, the traffic police are cutting challan as vehicle tax and insurance are left unpaid for about 6 months. Hence, they demanded a waiver of tax and insurance. They also demanded the vehicle fares to be increased to help them cope up with the losses.
As the Chief Minister is currently in North Bengal, they conducted a programme today to present their demands.
Samrat Sanyal, a member of HTDN, said that the tourism business has been on the decline ever since the lockdown was imposed in the country. In this situation, he demanded tax and insurance exemptions for the last six months. He also demanded an increase in taxi fares. They warned of staging larger demonstrations if their demands are not met soon.