In a protest to ban the entry of India’s Tata Nano into the country’s taxi market, hundreds of rickshaw drivers blocked the busy streets in Colombo on June 21st, 2011.
The rickshaw drivers were protesting as they fear that a majority of them would go out of business if Nano taxis are allowed to flood the taxi market. The protest was against a taxi company owned by a ruling party politician. The firm had stated its plan of increasing its Nano taxis from 45 cars to 200 cars in the next six months.
“We will lose our livelihood if Nano taxis are allowed to flood the market,” a spokesman for the Federation of Self-Employees (FOSE) told the reporters.
Nano taxi fares in Colombo are lower than A/C cars and are as competitive as that of three-wheeler rickshaws.