Bus and taxi unions have planned take to the streets to protest the state government’s decision to implement the high court ban on 15-year-old vehicles from August 1 after doing precious little to smoothen the process.

The heads of the unions convened emergency meetings after transport minister Subhas Chakraborty said on Wednesday that the government would not seek yet another extension of the phase-out deadline.

“We will oppose the move. The government does not have a plan on how to replace old taxis and where to keep them. It will take close to a year for the government to replace the 8,000-odd taxis that come under the purview of the ban,” said Madan Mitra, the president of Progressive Taximen’s Association.

Taxi Bachao Committee, a joint body of four major CPM and Trinamul backed unions, met the minister on Thursday and asked him to reconsider the move.

“He has asked for a week’s time from us. If there is no positive response from the government, we will hit the roads,” said Bimal Guha, the general secretary of Bengal Taxi Association and the president of the committee.

Minister Chakraborty is the president of the Bengal Taxi Association, which will also take part in the protest.

The first roadmap for the phase-out of more than 15-year-old taxis and their replacement with new ones was drawn up on June 25 with the consent of the state government, vehicle operators and the banks. The taxi operators had pointed out the roadmap’s success would depend on the sincerity of the government.

Swarnakamal Saha, the president of Bengal Bus Syndicate, on Thursday echoed the leaders of the taxi unions.

“The government does not have a plan in place. We will demonstrate on the road if the minister does not reconsider his decision to phase out vehicles from August 1,” said Saha.

Sadhan Das, the president of Joint Bus Syndicate, said drivers and owners might refuse to ply buses to protest the phase-out without adequate preparation.