Ola, Uber strike: Feud reignites between cab drivers and aggregators

The transport wing of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena had called for a strike of drivers at both Uber and Ola from Monday

At loggerheads again, cab drivers of both the Uber and Ola platforms are either on strike or have called one over the next few days.

While the service aggregators are saying the strike that has affected Mumbai and Pune is politically motivated, this is not the first time they have faced the ire of drivers. In the past two years, almost 15 strikes, big and small have either been held or announced by drivers over the country. From wanting the monthly income once promised by the aggregators to even a demands for mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) checks for riders, the drivers have asked for various things.

The transport wing of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) had called for a strike of drivers at both Uber and Ola from Monday. “Ola and Uber had given big assurances to the drivers but they (the latter) are unable to cover costs. They have invested Rs 700,000 and were expecting to make Rs 150,000 a month. The drivers are unable to make even half of this because of the mismanagement by these companies,” Sanjay Naik of the Maharashtra Navnirman Vahatuk Sena told journalists.

While Bengaluru and Hyderabad saw normal operations, one of Delhi’s cab aggregator unions, Sarvodaya Drivers Association, claimed they would go on strike from Friday. Other than higher monthly income, the Delhi union is demanding verification of the customers they pick up. “We have been carjacked, riders do not pay, get into fights with us and when we take these complaints to the cab companies, they do not do anything about it. They take all types of identification papers from us but not a single shred of paper from the riders. We want them to do a full KYC of the riders,” said S P Soni, general secretary of the Sarvodaya Drivers Association.

From accident and life insurance, rewards and awards for doing the maximum number of rides to other benefits, the cab companies claim they have taken a host of steps to ensure ‘driver partners’ are taken care of. However a steep commission of almost 35 per cent charged by them on every ride has always been an issue of contention for drivers.

Uber said the disruption had been caused to its rider and driver community by fringe groups, not all cabbies. “The Bombay High Court issued an injunction prohibiting unions, their leaders and anybody else from obstructing the activities of Uber driver partners. We have been listening to our driver partners all along and are committed to ensuring Uber remains an attractive entrepreneurial opportunity for them,” it stated.

Ola, without talking about the demands raised by the drivers, said the Mumbai Police had taken all the needed steps to “ensure the safety of commuters during their cab rides in the city”, said its spokesperson.    

According to experts on the segment, the problem is in the business model, which includes on-boarding of excessive numbers of cabs and drivers on a platform, to also going back on earlier promises of great returns. And, that there being only two entities in the aggregator segment, they are able to dictate terms.

“There is a slump in the income of the drivers, which is significant because earlier they had more rewards. Companies are under pressure to keep rates down. Duopoly, to some extent, plays a role. However, no one is stopping the drivers from joining other companies or going independent if they think they can earn more,” said an insider.