Bengaluru: After two days of hunger strike and shouting slogans against cab aggregator companies, drivers linked to Ola and Uber have stopped their protests till Sunday.
They expect JD(S) state president H.D. Kumaraswamy to join their protest this weekend. With the pause in the strike, more cabs are expected to be on roads on Saturday.
“Most of us have not logged on to the cab apps yet. However, drivers have suffered losses for the last 15 days. We have asked those facing financial problems to ply their cabs,” said Mr Kiran Gowda, state president, Karunada Rajya Taxi Owners and Drivers Association. Ola alleged 20 cases of vandalism by protesting drivers, who stopped other cabbies from driving and damaged their cars and phones.
Jalahalli Police Inspector Murugendra said, “There was one case last week when an Ola driver was stopped by some men. They damaged his phone. We have caught the three culprits and have produced them before court.”
While the inspector confirmed that those arrested were drivers, some alleged that the company hired hit men. “Why will a driver beat up a fellow driver? We are all suffering. They promised us Rs 10,000 for damages to cars, while agreeing to bear the cost of phone repairs. When I went to claim the amount for my damaged car, they told me to get it covered through insurance,” said a driver who was attacked.
Uber India President Amit Jain explained on his blog the issues concerning incentives and the drivers’ response to them. “This is a two-sided market, with riders and drivers. Uber rolls out incentives, promotions to ensure drivers get compensated for their time. More the riders, more drivers earn.” “We can then shift from startup mode to a more sustainable business model and begin reducing higher levels of incentives, and invest more in drivers,” he wrote in his blog.
On UberSAMAAJ, the company’s interactive platform, he said, “UberSAMAAJ is where our regular driver focus group discussions occur which I personally oversee and no topics are off limits. This year everyone on my team has committed to personally responding and resolving driver queries,” he said.
