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Thousands of cab drivers to boycott Ola, Uber in Guwahati from today. Here's why
Around 18,000 cab drivers and 16,000 Rapido bike riders will stop providing the aggregators’ services.
Online cab aggregators Ola and Uber have shut their services in Guwahati, Assam from Wednesday, February 1. The ban will also be imposed on bike aggregator service by Rapido.
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Around 18,000 cab drivers and 16,000 Rapido bike riders will stop providing the aggregators’ services. Two local cab operators- Pei India and AM2 will be operational in the city, The Meghalayan reported.
The decision came into effect citing the continuous harassment of the cab drivers by these aggregators in the region. The action was taken by All Assam Cab Mazdoor Sangha and All Guwahati Bike and Taxi Union. The two associations took the decision to discontinue the services amid the continuous harassment of cab drivers by cab aggregators.
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All Assam Cab Mazdoor Sangha general secretary Jyotish Deka said, “Ola and Uber started operations in Assam in 2015. In the first year, they gave us good incentives. But in later days they started harassment of cab drivers. They started taking 40 to 60 per cent of the commission from cab drivers per trip. This is not reasonable."
"They are also taking the dynamic price from us. If we pay such a commission, nothing is left for us. We work for 18-20 hours. We have to pay instalments in the banks and finance companies for loans against vehicles and maintain our family also," he added.
Amid the protests, the drivers have urged the government to introduce a new app service for the smooth functioning of their services.
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Last month, Rapido announced to stop all its bike-taxi services in Maharashtra after months of the legal tussle with the state government in the Bombay high court due to failure to disclose crucial information, including the lack of a licence to operate.
