Ola and Uber drivers in Mumbai have called off their strike but their counterparts in Delhi-NCR are set a complete shutdown on Friday.
Officials of the Sarvodaya Drivers Association, the main cab drivers’ union in the NCR, said that Ola and Uber cabs will not ply in Delhi-NCR on Friday as they plan to carry out a ‘large scale’ protest against the app-based cab aggregators.
The taxi drivers and unions are demanding better compensation, better verification of riders and streamlining of shared duties.
“We are carrying out a large scale protest against the aggregators as they are paying one-third of the promised amount to the drivers. Hence, to press our demands further, the union has decided to stop operations temporarily for 24 hours,” Kamaljeet Gill, president of the union said.
Some drivers were on strike on Thursday and residents in Delhi and Gurgaon faced a delay in getting cabs. Commuters from Noida and Ghaziabad found it difficult to book cabs towards Delhi.
Pratiksha Singh, a resident of Noida Sector 30, said that she took almost two hours to find a cab to go to Delhi. “Drivers would accept the duty and then call to ask the destination. They refused to pick me up when I said I had to go to North Campus in Delhi,” Singh said.
“We have heard about the strike by driver partners in Delhi from media reports. As of now, it is business as usual for us in Delhi-NCR,” an Ola spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for Uber said, “There is no disruption to the service in Delhi-NCR, at this point. We are committed to serving the city, ensuring driver-partners can continue to access a stable income while giving riders a convenient, reliable option to get around Delhi-NCR.”
The announcement of the taxi strike in Delhi comes even as Uber drivers called off their four-day-old strike in Mumbai. Ola drivers called off their strike on Wednesday.
The transport wing of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which spearheaded the Mumbai stir, claimed “victory”. The MNS in a statement said the Uber management, during their talks with the police and the wing’s representatives earlier in the day, has given a written commitment on meeting the various demands.
These include a relook at drivers blacklisted by the taxi aggregator and putting up stickers in Marathi on Uber cabs, the statement said. An Uber spokesperson, in a separate statement, confirmed that the Mumbai strike had been called off.
