Five private bus and minibus unions have called a three-day strike from January 28 to protest the rising price of diesel which, union members said, had further intensified their struggle for existence amid the Covid pandemic.

The decision was taken on Tuesday after members of the five unions held a meeting and discussed the fallout of the rising price of diesel on business.

On Tuesday, diesel sold at Rs 78.72 a litre in Calcutta. A month back, the price was around Rs 68.14 a litre in the city.

“The price of diesel has been rising regularly since June and we have not been getting enough passengers to see any profit during this period,” said Pradip Narayan Bose of the West Bengal Bus and Minibus Owners Association.

“How do we survive? We have decided to go for this strike. We understand commuters would face problems but we request them to understand our plight as well.”

On Tuesday, the association wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting the Centre to reduce taxes on diesel and enhance the interest-free moratorium period for transport vehicle owners. Copies of the letter have been sent to Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union minister of petroleum and natural gas, and to Nitin Gadkari, the Union minister of road transport and highways.

“Bus owners are unable to pay their EMIs and the price of diesel is continuing to rise. This was affecting the CIBIL score of the borrowers. Next time, several bus owners would not even qualify for a loan. What do we do?” asked Tapan Bandyopadhyay of the Joint Council of Bus Syndicates.

There are around 21,000 private bus operators in Bengal. In Calcutta and its surrounding areas, the count stands at 7,000. Almost all of them have been reeling from financial distress since the diesel price started rising.