Delhi High Court to hear drivers against order favouring Uber, Ola

Court to decide on continuing interim relief provided to cab aggregators further

The Delhi High Court is expected to hear responses from Sarvodaya Driver Association of Delhi (SDAD) and Rajdhani Tourist Driver Union on Friday, against a February 13 order restraining them from blocking Uber and Ola cars or hampering the legitimate businesses of the taxi aggregators.

Uber and Ola had moved the Delhi High Court earlier in the week in response to the ongoing taxi strike in the NCR and obtained ex-parte reliefs restraining the unions (or persons acting on their behalf) from stopping Uber cars or removing installed devices. While pronouncing the orders, Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw also restricted the unions from causing or instigating others to commit any violence or protesting within 500 metres of the taxi aggregators offices in Delhi and Gurugram. The court has afforded the companies the desired reliefs till the next date of hearing (Friday) and is likely to receive responses from the unions, before deciding to extend the orders further.

Several unions consisting of drivers of app-based taxi services had decided to go on an indefinite strike since February 10, which in turn has affected thousands of commuters in the NCR region. The move comes after similar strikes in Hyderabad and Bengaluru, with drivers demanding better benefits, accident insurance and relaxed hours for targets. The unions have also called for an immediate end to ride sharing services and increases in per kilometre rates.

On February 12, five unions decided to call off the strike, but SDAD, which claims to represent 1.5 lakh drivers is still refusing to bring the movement to a close.