Autos may join Ola, Uber strike Changing perks, low income scare drivers
COMMUTING Monday may be worse as drivers to intensify strike, say monthly earnings not enough to even pay car loan
NEWDELHI: The commuting woes of commuters may increase from Monday with cab drivers threatening to step-up their agitation and auto drivers planning to launch a similar strike against mobile-based cab aggregators.
Hundreds of cab drivers on Friday staged a protest against cab aggregators Ola and Uber at Jantar Mantar and threatened a bigger strike from Monday if their demands were not met.
The drivers demanded that fares for rides be increased from the existing ₹6 per kilometer, which is far lower than Rs 16 per km (for air-conditioned cabs)— the minimum fare prescribed by the Delhi government for radio taxis.
Data available with the Delhi transport department showed that the city had around 45,000 registered cabs, with officials estimating that the number of cabs plying on roads to be anywhere between 1 and 1.5 lakh.
“Our fares are lesser than auto rickshaws which charge ₹8 per km. We also have to pay 20-25% commission to the company. We are left with only around ₹5,000 after that. Monday is going to be the biggest strike ever by cab drivers where no commercial taxi would be allowed to ply,” said Kamaljeet Gill, president of the cab drivers association.
Friday’s protest, led to shortage of cabs in the city due to which cab aggregators enforced surge pricing for every ride. “First, I did not get any cab for 5 6 rides 12 rides 16 rides 19 rides
4 rides 6 rides 8 rides 10 rides minutes which is unusual. When I finally got one, the fare was 12 times the normal,” said Rachita, who had to take a cab from Lajpat Nagar to Noida.
The protest found support from a section of auto rickshaw unions too.
“We won’t ply our autos on Monday in support of the cab drivers. Action must be taken against Ola and Uber,” said Sanjay Chawla, president, Delhi Adarsh Auto Chalak Sangh. However, Rajendra Soni, of Auto Rickshaw Sangh, said their faction won’t support the strike.
Sharif Ahmed, a driver with Uber said that initially a lot of incentives were given to lure them. But the bonuses have reduced.
“Uber has stopped incentives for 80% of its drivers in the past two weeks. Earlier, we used to get ₹1,000 per extra trip as incentive which later came down to ₹275. The incentive has been stopped completely now,” he said.
Two leaders from an association of cab drivers, Sarvodaya Driver Association of Delhi, also sat on a hunger strike on Friday in protest. Drivers claim that the meagre fares make it difficult for them to even pay the installments on their car loans. Working hours is another issue raised by them.
“They (Ola/Uber) have given us such big targets that we have to work 24 hours almost,” said Hira Singh, who has been driving for Uber for two years.
While Ola refused to comment on the strike, Uber issued a statement saying the strike was an isolated incident.
“A small group of people are disrupting the Uber service in parts of Delhi, and there have been isolated reports of threats and intimidation. We are working to ensure reliable rides are available ,” an Uber spokesperson said. NEWDELHI: Tough times for drivers on cab-hailing apps started somewhere in August last year.
It had just been months that the companies, which had attracted a large number of drivers through high incentives, had changed the schemes.
Over the past few months, the gradually declining wages and inhuman working hours has resulted in multi-city strike for Uber and Ola drivers. In cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Noida, and Delhi, where strikes were called, they wanted better perks, relaxed working hours, and accidental insurance.
Cut to early 2016. From a blanket incentive plan of ₹250 for every booked ride, irrespective of the distance, Ola and Uber started clubbing rides for a fixed incentive. Ola gives ₹3,000 if a driver clocks six rides back-to-back, ₹5,500 for 12, ₹8,000 for 16, and ₹11,500 for 19. Uber too offers similar incentives .
Of the fare, Uber or Ola take 20% as commission.
The incentives result in losses. “Each of the companies burn $50 million on incentives every month,” said Siddhartha Pahwa, CEO of Meru Cabs.
With change in incentives, overnight working hours — Uber and Ola claim flexible working hours — changed. HT had reported earlier that drivers ended spending 17 hours on the roads every day to complete a number of rides.
The supply of cabs was more than the demand in most cities. Both the companies have close to 4,00,000 drivers each .
But not every day is a good day. Driver’s income fell by twothird in most cases. “I used to earn anything between ₹90,000 to ₹1lakh every month... That is down to ₹ 35,000 now,” said Pramod Narayan, an Ola driver in Delhi.
Uber also gives incentives for peak hour rides — ₹2,400 for four rides, ₹3,000 for six, ₹3,500 for eight, and ₹4,500 for 10 rides. “But, there is so much traffic that we hardly do two to three trips,” said Raj, an Uber driver in Delhi.