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Longer hours of wait, higher fares at Pune railway station and Lohegaon airport
Some commuters steered clear of Ola and Uber due to poor previous experiences and called their contacts for pickups instead
Barely a day since the city auto-rickshaw unions called an indefinite strike against bike-taxi services, and commuters outside Pune international airport and Pune railway station are already wary of using cab-aggregator services, private cars and prepaid taxis as alternate means of transport due to the longer waiting times, higher fares and poor previous experiences with cab-aggregators.
Krishna Sabale, a businessman waiting outside Pune international airport, said, “I need to reach Fergusson college road but I am running late owing to the longer waiting period. I need to use Ola or Uber cabs but the ones that are available are charging at least Rs100 more. I feel bad shelling out so much money.”
Whereas a commercial cab driver working for Pune international airport, said, “For people coming to the airport who are oblivious of the strike, we are providing commercial taxi services at fixed rates in each area. We are also directing them to Ola and Uber services though there are only a handful of these today. They can also avail the PMPML buses that would come post 3 pm today.”
Some commuters steered clear of Ola and Uber due to poor previous experiences and called their contacts for pickups instead.
Pooja, a government employee, said, “I have had multiple issues booking Ola and Uber in Pune. Either they never come on time or there are lot of cancellations. My colleagues told me not to come to the city because of the strike. Instead of using cab-aggregators, I am calling my friends to bring their cars over.”
Students are complaining about being charged exorbitant rates despite the long waiting times. “It took me at least 15 minutes to book a cab, and the rates are not dropping no matter how long I have to wait. I have to go to Kothrud and the charges are Rs200 to Rs300 extra,” rued Ishwari Kortikor, a student.
Many others said that they had pre-booked private cars to avoid the inconvenience caused by the strike. Santosh Sathe, a private cab driver working for Amruta Tours and Travels, said, “In Pune, private cars charge Rs17 a kilometre. In this situation, we are trying to charge passengers Rs15 a kilometre. We’ll see how the business is in the coming days of the auto strike.”
Outside Pune railway station as well, commuters were forced to opt for Ola/Uber or PMPML buses. Tourists waiting outside Pune railway station lamented cancellation of their Uber services. “We were not informed about the strike. We think it is better to take Uber or Ola because it is convenient for us as compared to buses. However, with repeated cancellations we are worried about how we will reach our destination. Might as well wait till the bus arrives…” a tourist said.
For some auto-rickshaws outside Pune railway station, it was business as usual while those outside Pune international airport kept away from the roads. Nearly all of them told the Hindustan Times that the RTO must ban bike-taxi services at the earliest so that they all can resume their business.
“We have paid more than Rs3.5 lakh to own our vehicle and on top of that, we have to pay insurance, taxes, and Rs93 for CNG. Our rates are calculated in such a way so that each day’s business is good enough to run the family. If we go on strike, it may affect our business today but it will pave the way for a better tomorrow,” said Jitesh Sakat, an auto driver and member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) auto-rickshaw union.
Livelihoods of 57,000 bike-taxi riders at stake
The indefinite strike called by auto-rickshaw drivers and unions in Pune is not only inconveniencing commuters but is posing a threat to the livelihoods of captains (riders) of these bike-taxis. The unions’ demand for stopping bike-taxi services in Pune has put a question mark on the livelihoods of around 57,000 Rapido company captains (bike-taxi riders) and their families in Pune, a statement issued by Rapido (aggregator firm) read.
“Given the current scenario, such strikes can have a far-reaching economic effect on a large section of people in Pune. Rapido strongly believes in working in tandem with the government’s vision of developing a strong gig economy as well as enabling access to livelihoods.”
“Micro-mobility is the need of the hour in large cities across India. The services provided by Rapido are complementary to the existing mobility infrastructure, and bridge the gap by providing last mile transportation,” the Rapido statement read.