Delhi Taxi Operators Protest E20, Claim Mileage Drops Up to 20% in Older Vehicles

Around 100 members of the Delhi Taxi, Tourist Transporters and Tour Operators Association (DTTTTOA) gathered in the national capital on Tuesday to protest the rollout of E20 petrol, a fuel blend containing 20 per cent ethanol. The association, which is Delhi’s largest umbrella organisation for transporters — covering app-based vehicles, taxis, buses and autos — raised concerns over reduced mileage, increased maintenance costs and the adverse impact on older vehicles not designed for high-ethanol fuel.

The protest, however, did not go as planned. The group had originally sought permission to march to Jantar Mantar, but was denied by the police. The members then headed towards Rajghat, where they were confronted by a heavy police presence, leading them to call off the march.

Sanjay Samrat, the association president, said a detailed representation was submitted to Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, urging a review of the E20 policy and a broader overhaul of transport regulations affecting commercial operators.

The government has been pushing for higher ethanol blending as part of its efforts to cut oil imports and reduce vehicular emissions. Ethanol, a biofuel produced from sugarcane and agricultural residues, is blended with petrol to lower the carbon footprint. India aims to achieve 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol by 2025, and E20 has been introduced at select petrol pumps across the country.

Responding to a question in Parliament on July 30, Mr. Gadkari had acknowledged that E20 can reduce fuel economy by 2 to 6 per cent, depending on the vehicle category and its age. However, the DTTTTOA’s memorandum claims that older vehicles are suffering mileage losses of up to 20 per cent, substantially raising fuel costs and eating into the already thin operating margins of taxi and tourist transport operators.

For Delhi's taxi and tourist transport operators, fuel is typically the largest operational expense. Many drivers work on tight margins, and a significant drop in mileage can directly affect their daily earnings, leaving little room to absorb additional costs.

Baljinder Singh, a taxi service owner, described the situation as a “double blow” for operators, combining declining fuel efficiency with higher maintenance costs. “A vehicle that earlier ran 12 to 13 kilometres per litre now delivers a mileage of only 7 to 8 kilometres, spiking our costs. We can’t simply increase taxi fares because the competition is intense,” he said.

Mr. Singh also expressed concern about the financial burden on drivers who have recently purchased vehicles. “Someone who has just invested in a vehicle cannot be expected to buy a flex-fuel vehicle again. If mileage is going down, so should the price of E20,” he argued. Flex-fuel vehicles are designed to run on higher blends of ethanol.

Jitender Singh Bobby, who operates a tourist taxi service in south Delhi, echoed these concerns. “Vehicles built to run on petrol should continue to get petrol. The engine performance of our vehicles has already deteriorated,” he said. He added that customers, especially tourists, often expect vehicles to reach destinations quickly, but the reduced acceleration leaves them disappointed. “Some of them have sometimes stopped using our services,” he noted.

The association stressed that it is not against cleaner fuels but wants a “balanced, scientific and technology-neutral” approach. Its primary demand is that petrol pumps offer E0, E5 and E10 fuels alongside E20, so that owners of older vehicles are not forced to use a blended fuel that may not be compatible with their engines.

The protest highlights the challenges of transitioning to greener fuels while safeguarding the interests of commercial transport operators, many of whom operate on tight margins. The government’s next step in addressing these concerns remains to be seen.