Indian taxi driver commits suicide

Indian taxi driver Vijayakumar found dead at his house in Abbasiya. He was 38 years old. Vijayakumar hails from Thrissur, Kerala state. He left behind his wife and two children, all are in India.

Vijayakumar's colleagues says that the taxi which he drives was taken by police for violations and was in police custody for almost 20 days. He defaulted the rent to company during this period. With the help of friends he was able to release the taxi from police custody. Vijayakumar was trying to arrange the amount needed to pay to the taxi company with the help of his friends and colleagues, said his friends.

All the authorized taxis in Kuwait belong to companies owned by citizen. Drivers are taking the taxis on daily rent and has to pay the rent to company whether he run it or not. Drivers are forced to pay the rent to company even when the taxis are under police custody, said the officials of 'Yatra', a recently formed platform of Indian taxi drivers. According to the members of 'Yatra', the taxi drivers are facing lot of hurdles in this sector. Daily hundreds of taxis are seized by authorities for minor violations, drivers said. "We are forced to pay the rent to company even while the taxis are under police custody," one of the driver said. The meter rates are decided in the year 2003 and no changes made till date. This is the reason why many drivers are not following meter rates, drivers said. Some companies are even forced to pay rent while the drivers are going on yearly vacation, drivers said. 12 to 14 hours, 7 days a week we are running the taxis to save a minimum of 200 dinars in a month, a driver said.
In addition to this, the taxi drivers are facing many other issues such as no parking space for taxis, assault from some criminal minded travelers, various fines, vehicle maintenance cost, issues with illegal taxis etc, said the officials of 'Yatra'.