Delhi taxi drivers protest Ola, Uber practices

Hundreds of app-based taxi drivers went on strike in tghne capital city on Friday over several financial issues with their partners Ola and Uber.

A call was made for a general strike by Delhi Autorickshaw Sangh and Delhi Pradesh Taxi Union against the ever-changing policies of the app-based cab companies.

"I didn't go to the meeting but observed the strike. These companies do not give the same incentives as they used to when they were first launched. They lured drivers with enticing offers then, but have now committed an about-turn," Deepak Sharma, an OLA driver, told IANS.

He also said that companies now prefer their own cars over the ones attached to them by other drivers.

"I used to do 18-20 trips earlier from an area like Green Park, but now I hardly manage six. Sometimes the companies stop showing the presence of these (attached) cabs on the app through their system. It's very discriminatory," Sharma added.

Another driver pointed out the companies' overbearing attitude in asking for the verification of all drivers but not of the customers.

"What about the passengers? They too may be threatning us. You must have heard about the incidents where drivers were attacked," Gopal, another Ola driver, said.

The strike affected the daily commuters, with many of them facing challenges to get a transport in time to reach their offices or other destinations.

"I used to get a shared cab within five minutes of reaching the bus stand, but today it took me half an hour before I got one," Swati Mantri, a research scholar, told IANS.

-IANS

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