Agitated drivers of Ola and Uber have decided to go off-road indefinitely from March 19 (Monday) to protest against alleged discriminatory practises. The cab drivers of the aggregated tax services threatened that services will be withdrawn from major cities like New Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune. Even cab drivers of Hyderabad have lent their support to the indefinite strike call that will affect millions of riders and commuters who depend on these app services.
Here are the top 10 things you should know about the planned strike:
1. Users of Ola and Uber may have a tough time getting a cab during office or rush hours. Major cities such as Pune, Bangalore, New Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad are going to be hit with millions of passengers stranded on road.
2. President of Maharashtra Nav Nirman Vahatuk Sena (MNVS) Sanjay Naik has called for the indefinite strike and claimed that more than 60,000 cab drivers have extended their support to the cause.
3. Naik claimed that they have asked Rs 1.25 lakh of guaranteed business to be given to the cab drivers of either company.
4. Naik also said the taxi companies managed to deliver Rs 1.25 lakh of business per month which has recently decreased to Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000.
5. The demands’ list also involves reinstating ‘wrongly blacklisted’ drivers, ola and uber must stop plying their own cars and must reduce the commision they take from drivers.
6. The indefinite strike will be an ‘offline’ protest which means that the Ola and Uber drivers will not log in nor accept bookings.
7. The drivers and MNVS have shown their distress over Maharashtra government’s decision to execute new Maharashtra City taxi rule 2017 will leave several cab owners stranded. The rules indicate substituting diesel vehicles with CNG.
8. Around 45,000 Ola and Uber cabs ply in Mumbai. There has been a drop of 20 percent in the number. Moreover, it is said that the cab aggregators are not raising the compensation as there has been a slump in business lately.
9. Naik further said that the government was not taking actions against the cab aggregators instead were supporting their business.
10. Naik said cabbies were miffed that the companies were giving more privilege to the company-owned cars rather than driver-owned cars, causing a dent in their business.