The drivers’ association has planned a mass strike on Monday if their demands are not met.
Commuters in the National Capital Region (NCR) had a harrowing experience on Saturday as the strike by the drivers of private taxi aggregators Uber and Ola entered its second day.
Vineeta Singh, an aggrieved commuter, managed to reach the airport at the nick of the time as she failed to get a cab for a long time. “I tried booking a cab but did not get any in my area. After trying for a long time, I had to request one of my relatives to drop me off to the airport. I reached the airport at 6.45 pm for a flight scheduled to depart at 7.30 pm,” Singh told DNA.
The drivers’ association has planned a mass strike on Monday if their demands are not met. “We have demanded that the fare be raised from Rs 6 per km to Rs 21. We have not received any intimation from the government and the app-based cab aggregators and if our demands are not met, we have planned for a larger movement on Monday,” said Ravi Rathore, vice-president, Sarvodaya Driver Association.
Another commuter, Ajay Kumar, who works at a private company in Gurugram, had to switch many autos to reach his house in South Delhi from his office.
“I was not getting any cabs. I had to change many autos to reach home, which was also expensive for me,” Kumar said.
Many people also complained that they were facing difficulties in booking cars from the app-based cab services, with the bookings getting automatically cancelled after a longer-than-usual wait. “I booked an Uber cab but then, after waiting for 10 minutes, the booking got cancelled by itself,” said another commuter.
Rathore said that they were joined by drivers from all India on Saturday and they would continue their protest at Jantar Mantar on Monday.
“None of the cabs would ply on Monday and the number of protesting drivers will increase. We want at least Rs 18/km as the fare,” he added.
Commuters complained that auto drivers took advantage of the situation and charged fares beyond what was mentioned on the meter.
On Friday, over 400 private taxi drivers staged a dharna at Jantar Mantar demanding a hike in the fares.
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