Ola, Uber Cabbies Plan to go on ‘Indefinite’ Strike from March 21

Mumbai: Ola, Uber passengers got a temporary sigh of relief on March 1 as the cabbies of Ola & Uber postponed their strike to March 21. The cabbies had earlier threatened that they will take their cabs off the Mumbai streets from February end or start of March. The cabbies of famous app-based taxi services like Ola & Uber held a meeting in Mumbai’s Govandi and decided to defer the Strike for one month.

Raju Patil, President of Sangharsh Tourist Taxi Chalak Malak Sangh said, “We have decided to go on an indefinite strike from March 21. Prior to this, we will protest against the companies at Azad Maidan on March 14 keeping the vehicles off the road”

Patil claims the presence of 800-1000 cabbies in the meeting held at Govandi. He added that their union will submit a memorandum of their demands to the Maharashtra Government and the Management team of Ola & Uber.

The very famous app-based taxi service providers like Ola & Uber are allegedly insensitive towards their drivers in terms of their income. They (Cabbies) are complaining about the reducing income, increasing penalties & a cut on incentive policies by the Management Team of Ola & Uber are inciting the ‘Call for Strike’ by the cabbies.

With a strong presence of over 30,000 Ola & Uber taxies in Mumbai, the drivers complain that their daily earning has descended in the last 3 months with insufficient bookings provided by Ola & Uber. Additionally, they (Ola, Uber) charge the penalties for denying to provide the services which has resulted in reducing their incentives. They also complained that they are not earning enough to even repay the loan installments at which they had bought their cabs.

The commuters in Mumbai may face inconvenience due to this strike because a lot depend on this service for commuting in Mumbai. Government is also in the process to bring these app-based taxi services under their regulation. The Government is planning to bring these app-based taxi services to City Taxi Rules 2016 which is demanded by traditional Taxi and Auto rickshaw drivers. Traditional Taxi & Auto Rickshaw drivers are demanding the Government to bring these app based taxies under government’s regulation.