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Ola, Uber drivers’ strike reveals demand-supply gap

Aggrieved drivers say taxi aggregators told them they could earn as much as Rs 1 lakh a month, but later cancelled their incentives and hiked the commission they have to pay to the company

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Taxi drivers for Uber and Ola shout slogans during a protest against the cab aggregators on Monday
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Just four days of the ongoing Ola-Uber drivers’ strike has revealed the huge gap between the demand and the supply of the means of transport in the Capital, and the failure of the state government to frame a policy in this regard.

Initially, the two app-based taxi aggregators lured drivers by telling them that they could earn as much as Rs 1 lakh a month, including incentives, by associating with them. This almost doubled their fleets in the last two years.

It, however, reduced the profit margin for all the drivers as the companies did not consider the exact demand for these services. An increase in the number of cabs reduced the number of rides and the fare, reducing the profit further. So, to make up for losses, they cancelled the drivers’ incentives and also increased the amount of commission to be paid to the company to 25%.

“When the strike started, with hundreds of riders trying to hail a cab, a few drivers who were still plying started charging ‘surge pricing’, sometimes even double the normal amount. This has led to a breakdown in services,” an expert, earlier associated with Meru Cabs, said.

Besides the incentives and an increase in base fare, the protesting drivers are demanding a cap on the number of cabs that can ply under the two aggregators.

From 30,000 drivers, Uber has gone on to 67,000 drivers while Ola’s driver number increased from around 50,000 to 1.5 lakh. Ola, which operates in 102 cities, has increased its fleet from around 4 lakh to 5.5 lakh in the last two years, while Uber, operating in 28 Indian cities, has over 2 lakh active drivers attached with it.

“The companies are trying to expand their fleet and business at the cost of drivers’ daily income. They made the drivers buy their own cars and get attached to the service. Then with a double-fold increase in the number of cabs, the number of rides each driver got fell down, reducing the profit on a daily basis. So, they cancelled our incentives and increased the commission. I took a loan to buy a WagonR and get attached to Ola. Now, I am not even able to pay my installments,” driver Kailash Singh said.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government’s assurance of a normal day fell flat on its face as the drivers’ strike entered the fourth day on Monday, forcing thousands of commuters to haggle with autorickshaws, while DTC buses and Metro trains filled to their capacity.

“I paid Rs 150 for an auto ride from Shastri Nagar to Connaught Place. The normal price is Rs 80 or Rs 100 at the most. The government must intervene,” a commuter, Natasha Kocchar, said.

That apart, an additional lakh people rode the Delhi Metro on Monday.

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