CITU calls for strike seeking regulations on taxi aggregator business

The Central Indian Trade Union (CITU) called for a one-day protest on Tuesday in Chennai, as it urged the government to regulate taxi aggregator businesses such as Ola and Uber, besides making other demands. The protest comes in the wake of the ongoing strike by the Ola and Uber drivers in various cities. However, the issues for the drivers with these aggregators in Chennai are different from those in other cities, said Union leaders.

The Union is also in the process of preparing a plan to start a taxi aggregator service in the city, along the lines of the Ola and Uber models, but without the commission these companies are levying per booking from the drivers.

The Union has conducted one-day strike twice since the beginning of this year and on Tuesday, it has also called for the drivers working with the online aggregators to join the protest. However, the taxi aggregators' services in Chennai were funtioning normally. 

"This is part of our protest related to the implementation of the Road Transport and Safety Bill and seeking regulation to control taxi aggregators," said Kuppusamy, secretary of CITU's Motor Vehicle Workers' organisation. 

"The issues faced by the Ola-Uber drivers in Chennai are different from those in Mumbai. Since there are more driver-owned vehicles here, the issue is related to the commission and the incentives paid by some of these aggregators," he added. He said that the Uber drivers are paying a 25 per cent commission, while Ola demands a 30 per cent commission. There are also disputes related to the incentive model some of the aggregators are offering, he alleged.

Greater Chennai, a region that includes the peripheries of the city within its ambit, has around 100,000 cab drivers in all, 60,000 of whom are working with the two taxi aggregators, he said. 

"The proposal to start a taxi aggregator app has come from the drivers themselves. For CITU, we have the manpower, but there is no money power to back such a large project. We are in talks with a sponsor who could provide us the app and the server. The work is in progress, but we may not be able to put a timeline on the launch," Kuppusamy added. The drivers can form a co-operative model to bring in money for the operations, if feasible. However, the Union is not sure whether this venture could compete with the aggregator giants,. In any case, that is not the idea behind it, Kuppusamy added. 

The union called for a strike on January 3, demanding that the government bring in standardised rates for taxi aggregators and seeking revision on the relaxation on the eight-hour per day restriction on call taxis. Reports said that around 40,000 vehicles had participated in the strike, which affected taxi services in the City during the day.