Ola, Uber strike hits Delhi, cabs may not ply today

NEWDELHI: Ola and Uber drivers in Delhi and NCR are set to join a nationwide strike and plan to stay off the roads on Friday according to leaders of the drivers’ union.

Drivers said they were demanding better compensation, verification of riders and streamlining of shared duties.

Officials of Sarvodaya Driver’s Association, the apex cab drivers union in NCR, said that Ola and Uber cabs will not ply in Delhincr on Friday as they plan to carry out a “large-scale” protest against cab aggregators over “low” pay and banning of shared cabs. “The aggregators are paying one-third of the promised amount to the drivers. To press our demands, the union has decided to stop operations temporarily for 24 hours,” said union president Kamaljeet Gill.

Some cab drivers said that they had been threatened by unions to halt services and warned that their vehicles would be damaged. But aggregators said they did not receive any demands from driver-partners and there was no disruption of services in Delhi-ncr.

“We have heard about the strike by driver partners in Delhi from media reports. As of now, it is business as usual for us in Delhi-ncr,” an Ola spokesperson said.

An Uber spokesperson said, “There is no disruption to the service in Delhi-ncr at this point. We are committed to serving the city, ensuring driver-partners can continue to access a stable income while giving riders a convenient, reliable option to get around Delhi-ncr.”