In a relieving move for ride-hailing service providers and its users, the Delhi High Court has permanently restrained two taxi drivers’ unions from interfering in services offered by Ola and Uber in the NCR region.
The order was passed after Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw was informed of an unsuccessful attempt at mediation with the two unions. The two unions – Sarvodaya Driver Association and Rajdhani Tourist Driver Union – are connected to the strike in February that massively disrupted taxi services in the city.
Both unions are alleged to have disrupted services of taxi aggregators who did not wish to participate in a February strike for higher fares and other incentives. Further, the court also reiterated its earlier order restraining the driver unions from staging any protest within 500 meters from the office premises of Ola and Uber in the future.
The court was hearing pleas from ride-hailing companies ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which runs Ola, and Uber Technologies. Both had alleged that the driver unions were disrupting services of taxi drivers who did not join the February strike. Ola even claimed that striking drivers had blocked their cabs, pulled out drivers and removed the mobile devices installed in them.
As per several reports, the unions had earlier claimed that more than 1 lakh drivers would strike protesting for a single day against the low earnings. They also demanded an increase in fares from existing ₹6 per km to around ₹20 per km and the abolition of the 25 % commission charged by the companies.
But, the Delhi High Court has now issued a perpetual injunction which restrains the unions from preventing Uber drivers from going about their work. In a statement, Uber said:
The Honourable Delhi High Court has issued a perpetual injunction restraining unions, their leaders, members and their followers from preventing Uber driver partners from going about their work. We welcome the court’s order and hope that it will enable drivers to stay behind the wheel, without fear or harassment henceforth.
We are hopeful that the order will be effectively enforced and that action is taken against any person who attempts to block cars, confiscate devices or harass riders and drivers and that the safety of everyone using the Uber App in Delhi is ensured. We are committed to keeping Delhi moving and ensuring a reliable experience for riders and drivers.
However, this isn’t the first time Uber has managed to do so. It had a similar injunction in Hyderabad in January during the driver protests. In February, Uber got a court injunction restraining the cab unions from preventing drivers who were still working with them. In Bangalore, Karnataka high court barred protesters, including union leaders and members, from blocking and stopping the cabs.
Earlier, the government had assured both the parties involved that it cannot resolve the conflict but will surely provide a platform for common dialogue between cab aggregation companies and drivers, where the latter would be able to raise their concerns.
