Cabbies against favouritism

Want parking lot and prepaid counter; say BIA has 10 days to act

LUXURY taxi drivers are livid with BIAL which, they say, is favouring Meru and Easycabs.

The Bangalore Airport Luxury Taxidrivers' Union which staged a protest at the Bangalore International Airport on Tuesday, demanded a prepaid counter and parking facility there.

The drivers are so agitated that they have threatened violent measures if their demands are not met in 10 days. "We will fight for justice till our demands are fulfilled," said Ataulla Khan, vice-president of the union.

List of woes "Unlike Meru and Easy cabs, we are charged hefty fees to park our vehicles," said Riaz Pasha,joint secretary of the union.

"We are not even provided with a counter though we are ready to pay the prescribed fee." The drivers provide service in luxury cars like Mitsubishi Lancer, Ford Ikon, Toyota Innova, Toyota Qualis, BMW and Mercedes Benz but allege that despite having an all-India permit, they can't operate at BIA.

"All our cars have national permits while Meru and Easycabs have permits for 25 km," added Ataulla. "They violate their limits.And here we are u2013 denied justice though we work according to the rules."

Deepak M, the BIA official who accepted the memorandum,said a decision would be taken after discussions with BIA officials.