Ola, Uber cabbies’ strike completes Day 2, commuters stranded

Cab drivers attached to Ola and Uber have been on strike from Friday demanding revision of rates and the implementation of life insurance cover for drivers

The ongoing strike by app-based cab drivers of Ola and Uber left people stranded for the second consecutive day on Saturday.

The app-based cab operators forced many drivers off the road on Sohna Road in Gurgaon on Saturday. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

In the morning, the cab drivers were seen stopping cabs from plying on Mehrauli -Gurgaon Road and other parts of the city.

The effect, however, was not as bad as on Friday because it was the weekend and since commuters already knew about the strike.

Cab drivers attached to Ola and Uber have been on strike from Friday demanding revision of rates and the implementation of life insurance cover for drivers.

On Saturday, the cab drivers gave a call for an indefinite hunger strike until their demands are met and sat on a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

Strike by Ola, Uber drivers enters second day, Delhi commuters suffer

More than 200 cabs attached to Ola and Uber were off the roads causing inconvenience to commuters, as Gurgaon barely has any public transport options and autorickshaws do no ply by meter. The dependence on private cabs services such as Ola and Uber has been on the rise in recent times.

“I did not find any cab near Subhash Chowk, when I tried booking through the app. Only shared cab services were shown in the app,” said Tarunendra Singh, a civil projects coordinator.

People took to social networking sites to raise their concerns over the strike.

“I understand ola and uber are striking, however just/ unjust their demands might be.... but why are they behaving like hooligans on the street and where is the police,” (sic) tweeted Ishani from the Twitter handle @IshaniDg.

#Ola #Uber Can you do something about the strike? Few drivers were forcing us to get out of the cab. It was scary! #Gurgaon #cabstrike,” (sic) tweeted Raspreet Kaur through her handle @KaurRasp.

While most complained about the hassle to commuters, a few cheered metro rail services. “Uber and Ola drivers go on strike in Delhi & NCR. Thank goodness for the Metro,” (sic) tweeted Prasanto K Roy from his handle @prasanto.