Resentment against app-based ride-hailing majors, Ola and Ubers are brewing amongst its driver partners. Sharp fall in income, strict regulation for compromising user experience and long working hours have been usual complaints of cab drivers.
Voicing their concerns loudly, Ola and Uber’s drivers have threatened to switch off their devices and go on a strike across cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Gurugram, and others.
Sanjay Naik of Maharashtra Navnirman Vahatuk Sena has threatened to continue protest if demands of taxi drivers will not be met.
The taxi union unit of Raj Thakre-led political outfit is organising the protest on March 19. From 8 am onwards, drivers will be shutting their devices down and protest outside offices of Ola and Uber. Importantly, the protest will also see the participation of drivers’ families.
Driver unions want a commitment of business worth Rs 1.25 lakh every month from ride-hailing majors. Drivers used to earn the aforementioned amount during the 2014-16 period when Ola and Uber were giving lucrative incentive to drivers. However, over the past 12-18 months, incentives have evaporated as the duo gradually built strong supply sides.
While the demand for taxi union appears serious, it’s unlikely that Ola and Uber will commit the aforementioned monthly business as they have turned the focus towards improving unit economics. Fall in income had also caused a crunch in supply of cabs for Ola and Uber.
A RedSeer Management report had found that cab affiliation to their platforms saw a 25 per cent drop in Jan-March 2017 period.
A couple of months ago, cab drivers of Ola, Uber, and Fasttrack had gone on strike on strike for a day. The driver partners were protesting against exorbitant commission (upto 27 per cent) levied by the app-based cab-hailing services.
They also asked government intervention in reducing commission in a single digit.
While the demand of taxi drivers affiliated with ride-hailing majors seem fair and has been raised time and again, Ola and Uber won’t bent easily. These concerns will also gain more voice as they expand deeper into smaller cities.
The development was reported by Financial Express.
