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HYDERABAD, Feb 3: A large number of rickshaw drivers, under the aegis of the Light Transport Rickshaw Drivers Labour Union, took out a procession here on Monday against recovery of what they called illegal parking fees.
The procession started from the Station Road and terminated at the local press club.
Talking to newsmen, the union leaders, Saleem Khan, Abdul Aziz and Mohammad Zaman said the union had already rejected recovery of the parking fee.
They said the union had informed the authorities concerned about this recovery but no action had been taken.
They said the indifferent attitude of the district administration and municipal and railway authorities had forced the rickshaw drivers to stage protest demonstration.
They said the parking fee was being recovered by force.
They appealed to the Sindh government to stop the recovery of the fee.
Earlier on Sunday, rickshaw drivers held a protest demonstration at the Pacca Qila Chowk on Sunday against the charging of parking fees in the three Talukas of Hyderabad, Latifabad, and Qasimabad as well as manhandling of a rickshaw driver, Atta Mohammad, at the hands of a contractor of the Hyderabad Railway Station parking area, Ameer Soomro.
All the rickshaw drivers, led by the president, Light Transport Rickshaw Drivers Union (LTRDU), Saleem Khan, blocked the main chowk and then gathered outside the Fort police station to lodge an FIR against Ameer Soomro.
The Taluka Councils (TC) levied Rs5 parking fees for the rickshaw drivers at various stops in the city. The rickshaw drivers were strongly opposing the fees on the ground that they would have to pay half of their daily income to the contractors as parking fee which was absolutely unjustified and illegal.
The Taluka Council City through its notification dated Dec 2, 2002 has given the contract of charging fees from motorcycles, rickshaws and other vehicles. A car occupant has to pay Rs3 and those of other vehicles Rs5. Bus and truck drivers have to pay Rs10 for each trip in the city.
SHC: The Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit bench, here on Saturday directed the City taluka Nazim, the advocate-general of Sindh and a charged parking contractor to appear in the court on Feb 18.
The court issued notices to this effect on a constitutional petition, challenging levy of parking fees by the City taluka council.
The petition was filed by the acting general secretary of the Mini Taxi Workers’ Union, Mohammad Naqi, on behalf of the union.
He stated that despite the payment of different taxes and fees by owners and drivers of taxies, the respondent taluka council had begun recovering charged parking everywhere in the city through contractor Chaudhry Mohammad Ashraf.
He said that there were some specified termini, where the parking fees was permissible and it was already being paid by the mini taxi drivers.
He argued that the fresh contract of charged parking was illegal.
He prayed the court to declare the imposition of parking fee illegal and grant permanent injunction, restraining the respondents from recovering the additional parking fee.
FOLK SINGERS: A group of folk singers of Sindh staged a protest demonstration outside the press club here on Monday against the Five Star Company and the Data Production for releasing six cassettes of Manjhi Faqir.
Talking to newsmen, Manjhi Faqir of Sanghar alleged the two companies had defrauded him and had marketed his cassettes without permission. He demanded action against the companies.
