Taxi drivers struggle to earn their living

City’s transport operations have taken a major hit due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdown, and taxi, autorickshaw and app-based cab drivers have faced the most hardship during this period.

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Public transport services were suspended in the city after the announcement of the nationwide lockdown on March 23. Later on June 6, certain services resumed with restrictions under the state government’s Mission Begin Again. As part of the relaxation, black and yellow taxis, autorickshaws and app-based cabs services are presently allowed to operate only for emergency travel along with a restriction on number of passengers.

Meanwhile, due to the complete suspension of autorickshaw, taxi and private cabs for almost three months and the slow business after the relaxations, drivers continue to face a deepening financial crisis. When Hindustan Times spoke to drivers in the city, they said they were struggling to survive.

Dharamveer Gupta, a 30-year-old Santacruz resident, has been driving an autorickshaw for the past five years. However, Gupta, along with his family, had to leave Mumbai on May 22 and take a shramik special train to his hometown in Uttar Pradesh, after facing severe financial crisis due to the suspension of autorickshaw services in the city. “The situation was not easy at all. Even to board shramik trains, we had to wait for over six hours in a queue outside the station but could not board the train,” said Gupta.

Gupta arrived back in Mumbai on June 10, but he has been struggling to repay vehicle loans and earn a living. “There are no passengers. We are waiting for hours in order to get a single passenger. The day’s earning is hardly ₹300 as opposed around ₹1,000 that we used to make before. Banks are also troubling us to repay our loans. The condition is really bad and there has been no relief from the government,” he said.

Another autorickshaw driver, Pankaj Tej Bahadur, 40, was lucky to leave the city a day before the nationwide lockdown was imposed, but he hasn’t returned to the city since then. Singh, who is currently in Azamgarh, has exhausted all his savings and wants to return to Mumbai soon. “People had started discussing that there will be a countrywide lockdown. I did not have any money saved, so I decided to leave on March 22. I was lucky that I did not have to face what a lot of migrant workers faced. I did odd jobs in my village and also did farming. My savings are exhausted now. I will return to Mumbai soon, but I’m not able to get a railway ticket,” said Singh.

Mahindra Nath Chaurasiya, 50, has been driving a black and yellow taxi in the city from 1996. He said, “The business of black and yellow taxis depend on the opening of garments, fruits and vegetable markets. Everything is mostly closed, and it is nearly impossible to get passengers. I have not seen anything like this before. The cost of compressed natural gas (CNG) has also increased in the city, which makes it more difficult for drivers.”

The condition of mobile application-based cab drivers is the same. Vijay M, who works with a mobile application-based cab aggregator service, has stopped logging in. “The condition is tough for mobile app-based cab drivers. I started driving cabs as I enjoy driving, but now sustaining in the business is quite difficult. I had logged in after the cab services resumed and did not get a single passenger for hours. This is the situation of almost all the drivers. The ones who do opt for rides mostly visit hospitals, which is an added safety concern,” said Vijay.

Autorickshaw and taxi unions in the city have stated that many drivers survived on free food distributed by non-government organisations during lockdown. “The drivers who stayed back in the city found it extremely difficult to manage three meals a day. Many drivers survived on free food that was distributed. Majority of the drivers had no money saved with them as they generally send it to their hometowns,” said KK Tiwari, leader of Swabhiman Mumbai Taxi and Rickshaw Union.

Taxi and auto unions have demanded waiver of vehicle loans for drivers as well as monetary relief for the period of lockdown but, they said, they have not got any response from the government.

“There has been no response from the government to provide monetary relief to drivers. We are aware that drivers are facing financial crisis and have approached the government for waiving vehicle loans. We will be sending another reminder to the government next week,” said AL Quadros, leader of Mumbai Taximen’s union.

Transport department officials have stated that discussions with unions are going on. “We have met the unions along with regional transport officers and are deciding different measures that can be undertaken for road transport and the drivers,” said an official from the department, who did not wish to be named.