Commuters are left high and dry
The indefinite strike by drivers-partners of taxi aggregators Ola and Uber had a predictable impact: thousands of commuters were unable to book cabs on either of the platforms to ferry to their workplace.
The Ola loyalists were the worst hit since their application refused to respond to requests; but some Uber drivers were plying at their own risk. One such reckless Ola driver who decided to run his taxi faced the ire of MNS leader Nitin Nandgaonkar who broke the vehicle's windshield.
“No cabs were available on the Ola app, but was surprised after I was able to book a cab on Uber,” said Rajesh Chavan, a Bandra resident.
Only sharing cabs were available but they were coming in too late, said Parnasha Banerjee. The strike, starting Monday, has been called by the transport wing of the MNS. Drivers are protesting against poor remuneration and the discriminatory practice of Ola and Uber, which give first preference to company-owned cabs over driver-owned taxis.
Most hard hit were commuters who refuse to use public transport and prefer to cough up moolah for appbased cabbies. With only Kaali-Peeli cabs plying and most of them engaged, commuters switched to public transport but found the going tough. With fewer cabbies on the road, they also had to grapple with the menace of surge pricing.
But with nearly 60,000 cabs off the roads, there was less congestion and fewer bumperto-bumper snarls.
Uber regretted the inconvenience caused to its customers due to the strike.