Covid cash aid to K'taka taxi drivers in 2-3 days: Official

The Karnataka government's Covid-19 relief aid of Rs 5,000 each to taxi and autorickshaw drivers will be disbursed in ...

The Karnataka government's Covid-19 relief aid of Rs 5,000 each to taxi and autorickshaw drivers will be disbursed in 2-3 days, said an official on Friday.

"It should happen in another 2-3 days. There is no software issue as of now. It is being processed. In another 2-3 we should be able to give the money," Transport Commissioner N. Shivakumar told .

"The provision is made to give relief to 7.75 lakh autorickshaw and taxi drivers across the state. But so far 1.75 lakh drivers have applied," Shivakumar said.

All the 1.75 lakh drivers will receive Rs 5,000 relief, translating to Rs 87.5 crore.

On May 6, the state government announced Rs 1,610 crore relief aid to farmers, flower growers, washermen, barbers, autorickshaw and taxi drivers – among the worst-affected by the Covid-induced lockdown.

Meanwhile, the transport commissioner has also clarified that he only gave an advisory to Ola, Uber and cab aggregators to fix a fiberglass partition in the vehicles as a precautionary measure.

"We have not ordered. We have only advised them to consider fixing it (fiberglass). We have not ordered anything," he said.

He said the stakeholders can consider it as a safety feature and it is not mandatory.

( With inputs from IANS )