Taxi driver associations held a protest against soaring fuel prices at the Barakhamba Road area of the national capital on Friday

Kamaljit Gill, Sarvodaya Drivers Association president, said taxi drivers tied black ribbons on their faces and held a peaceful protest from 10 am to 11 am.

“The permission was for 80 people. However, around 200 reached Barakhamba Road, parked their vehicles and joined the protest peacefully without saying anything. We will hold another protest across the nation on March 22 and 23,” he said.

Other than Sarvodaya Drivers Association, Expert Driver Solution, Rajdhani Parivahan and other similar outfits participated in the protest, Gill said.

Carrying placards, the protesters demanded that app-based taxis should be brought under city taxi permit as per a 2017 order of the Supreme Court.

“App-based taxi drivers charge Rs 6 per kilometre. They give 25 % to the company as commission, and as the prices of petrol are increasing day by day, it is becoming difficult for them,” Gill said.

The protest comes at a time when petrol is retailing at Rs 91.17 while diesel is costing Rs 81.47 for a litre. VAT in Delhi is presently Rs 21.04 per litre, which the state government makes. The excise duty which the central government takes is Rs 32.90 per litre in Delhi.

The soaring fuel prices across the country has also affected the truckers coming to the Capital city, while at the same time the prices of commodities that rely on their services have also spiked.