New Delhi, August 17, 2026: Delhi’s auto-rickshaw drivers have taken their welfare and transport-related concerns to Jantar Mantar, with the Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh demanding that the Delhi government immediately constitute the Auto-Taxi Drivers’ Welfare Board promised in its 2026-27 Budget.
The protest, organised under the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), is directed at both the Centre and Delhi government and also seeks withdrawal of increased vehicle fitness fees, limits on drivers’ working hours, greater accountability within the Transport Department and action against bike taxis operating with private number plates.
Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh general secretary Rajendra Soni appealed to auto and taxi drivers to gather at Jantar Mantar and said, “Our demand is that the Delhi government should immediately constitute the ‘Auto-Taxi Drivers’ Welfare Board’ and withdraw the increased vehicle fitness fees immediately.”
The government had announced the dedicated welfare board in its 2026-27 Budget, saying it would focus on the facilities and security of auto and taxi drivers. The latest protest therefore comes at a crucial point: drivers are asking the government to turn a budgetary promise into a functioning welfare mechanism while they contend with rising regulatory, operating and livelihood pressures.
A Promise Drivers Want Implemented
The welfare board sits at the centre of the drivers’ demands because it could provide a dedicated institutional mechanism for addressing their social-security, safety and working-condition concerns. In its 2026-27 Budget, the Delhi government announced that an Auto-Taxi Drivers Welfare Board would be created with a focus on drivers’ “facilities and security”.
The announcement followed an earlier commitment in the 2025-26 Budget, when ₹10 crore had been proposed for a welfare board covering informal-sector workers, including gig and platform workers, domestic helpers and auto-taxi drivers. For drivers, the issue is not simply about having a board on paper.
Their income depends on daily passenger demand while fuel, maintenance, compliance and vehicle-related expenses continue to affect earnings. The union is therefore seeking clarity on when the board will be formally constituted, who will represent drivers and what welfare benefits it will provide. At the Jantar Mantar protest, Soni also raised the issue of increased fitness fees.
The Centre had revised vehicle fitness-test charges in November 2025, with higher fees linked to vehicle age, a measure intended to discourage the continued use of older vehicles. The union argues that such regulatory costs can place an additional financial burden on commercial drivers.
Rising Costs, Changing Rules
The protest follows a series of concerns raised by Delhi’s auto and taxi unions over fares, fuel costs, regulation and the future of the sector. In May, the Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh had distanced itself from a wider Delhi-NCR transport strike, with Soni saying that auto and taxi services would continue normally.
At the time, he acknowledged that rising CNG prices were financially burdening drivers and said unions were seeking higher auto and taxi fares. The sector is also preparing for a major shift towards electric mobility. Delhi’s new EV policy requires new auto-rickshaw registrations to be electric-only from January 2027, with purchase incentives of up to ₹50,000 in the first year, ₹30,000 in the second and ₹20,000 in the third.
Soni described the transition as “abrupt and forced” and called for stronger charging infrastructure and a review of the permit ceiling before the shift gathers pace. Meanwhile, the operation of bike taxis using private number plates remains another point of friction.
Auto and taxi bodies have argued that such services affect the livelihoods of regulated drivers and raise questions over safety and compliance. No separate government response to the latest Jantar Mantar protest was reported in the latest reports reviewed; the government’s clearest position remains its budgetary commitment to create the dedicated welfare board.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
For a city that relies heavily on autorickshaws for last-mile connectivity, the concerns of drivers deserve to be heard through meaningful dialogue rather than only when protests reach the streets. Regulation, cleaner vehicles and passenger safety are legitimate public priorities, but so are fair working conditions, reasonable compliance costs and livelihood security for the people who keep the city moving.
A welfare board can become meaningful only if it moves beyond an announcement and gives drivers a genuine channel to raise concerns, access support and participate in decisions affecting their work. At the same time, unions and authorities must ensure that disagreements remain peaceful and that negotiations remain focused on practical solutions rather than confrontation.
Also read: Shehzad Poonawalla Quits BJP Again, Says ‘Warm Goodbye’
