Strike may keep Ola-uber cabs off Mumbai’s roads this Friday

For the first time in the city, thousands of Ola and Uber cabs are likely to be off the roads on Friday. Reason: The drivers working for these companies have threatened a token strike on that day. If the government and the companies ignore their demands, the action committee of drivers has also threatened an indefinite strike from March 21, 2017.

When contacted, spokespersons of both Uber and Ola refused to comment on the issue.

Irked by their steadily reducing income, increasing penalties and a cut in the incentives at Ola and Uber, the cabbies have threatened this agitation. The drivers are further irked with the state government’s new rules under the Maharashtra Motor Vehicle Rules 2017, for regulating app-based taxis and controlling surge pricing, which varies with demand and supply, four days ago.

‘Action Committee of Maharashtra against Ola and Uber’ (ACM), which has issued a strike call, claimed no app-based taxi will hit the city roads on Friday. “We are hoping all Ola and Uber cab drivers in the city go on a strike on Friday,” said Mohammad Yakub, 50, a member of ACM, who has been driving an app-based cab for the past three years.

The committee assured the strike would be peaceful and non-violent.

According to the transport department’s estimates, there could be more than 30,000 appbased taxis on Mumbai roads, many of which are Ola and Uber cabs. RTO officials, however, are sceptical about the response to the strike.

The action committee also claimed it had received the support of the unions of app-based cabbies in other cities including Pune, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Delhi.

According to a member of the committee, their strike from March 21 could be indefinite, if the companies and the government ignore their agitations.