According to Kasam Mulani, president of Navi Mumbai Rickshaw Mahasangh — it is an umbrella association of some 22 autorickshaw unions across Navi Mumbai, Uran, Kharghar and Panvel —, there are some 8200 authorised autorickshaws in Navi Mumbai. The neighbouring town of Kharghar has some 350 autorickshaws, Panvel has 5000 and Uran has some 1500.

“But there are many more autorickshaws in the city which are plying without a permit,” Mulani said and added: “We have been asking the RTO authorities to take action against these autorickshaws. But they simply tend to ignore our demand and penalise the authorised autorickshaw drivers who have minor faults in their vehicles. They levy a hefty fine on the drivers and suspend their licenses for 120 days.”

The decision to go on strike was taken after a meeting between the RTO and the unions failed on Wednesday night.

The unions have also submitted a list of demands to the RTOs.

During the last few days the RTOs have seized 250-300 autorickshaws.

Students appearing for the SSC examination were the worst affected during the strike.