Resentful cabbies went on a strike against ride-hailing companies including Ola and Uber across the country, just a few days ago. These demonstrations by drivers were particularly at the peak in Bengaluru. Falling down to the budding pressure, the Bengaluru state government made an attempt to pacify the vexed drivers. But the efforts went in vain as the transport department said a clear cut no to the asked assistance by cabbies on Tuesday.
The department gave their justification in favour of the mobility giants; explaining that the companies were charging in hand with the standards and rates fixed by the government. The decision was given post the officials hosted a meeting with representatives of Ola,TaxiForSure, Uber, OTU, and Owners’ Union on Tuesday. In response to the judgment, the cab drivers intimidated the government to protest against their respective companies at a much more influential scale than before.
Key reasons for the ongoing indifference between the cab-giants and their human assistance include redundant incomes, a drop in driver incentives, fleet expansion, and non-verified drivers. The drivers have directed the officials to increase the fares to Rs 19.5 per km for AC vehicles and Rs 14.5 per km for non-AC vehicles as a government approved rate.
Presently, the cab aggregators charge Rs.6/7 per km varying on the type of vehicle chosen by the customer. Alongside a base fare of Rs.40 and Rs.1/minute is also charged in addition to the per km fares. But due to offered schemes and discounts, the generated revenue doesn’t suffice the low-income pockets of the drivers. Transport minister Ramalinga Reddy will now a further meeting with the Ola and Uber management to discuss the differential tariffs to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
Exhibiting the suffering and built-in anger within the drivers, Tanveer Pasha, head of the union for the protest stated,
I think we have to up the momentum of our protest, may be commit suicide in front of Vidhana Soudha to make the government realize what pains we are going through. Low fares are drilling deep holes in our pockets but they are benefiting people who use these services and the companies. The government is therefore unwilling to budge.
The drivers complain that the battle of market share is hugely affecting their lives. The companies should stop offering discounts just to attract new customers and retain the existing ones. The protesters further revealed that the companies allow drivers to bypass the mandatory driver verification process so as to keep up with the minimum requirement of drivers. The process requires the companies to maintain a verification record and to do some background check prior to hiring. But the cab aggregators are constantly pulling in new drivers by offering drooling incentives without adhering to the rules.
In response to the complaint registered by the strikers, HG Kumar, additional Commissioner of Transport department and State Transport Authority (STA) officer, said
“If there are complaints about drivers not being verified, we will enforce the rules. But we have no role to play as mediators between the companies and the drivers to sort out the fare issues.”
At the moment, a smooth solution for these protests seems inevitable. This is largely because demands by drivers could really drive off customer base away from uber, Ola and the likes, since riders have been using these services, to a large extent, for the cheap rides they offer.
We’ll keep you updated with how things unfold further down the line. Stay tuned.
