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Bengaluru man, unemployed for 1.5 years, turns to cab driving, explains how much he earns daily
In a Reddit post, the Bengaluru driver broke down his daily earnings, expenses and the toll of working up to 16 hours a day.
After being unemployed for 1.5 years, a Bengaluru cab driver turned to ride-hailing apps to survive. In a Reddit post, he broke down his daily earnings, expenses and the toll of working up to 16 hours a day.
In a post titled “The rant of a river,” the driver described slipping into loan and credit card debt after an unsuccessful business attempt and repeated failures to secure employment. “Unemployed for a good 1.5 years, tried a business and burnt my hand, spiralled into loan and CC debts. Pulled up myself again looking for jobs to no avail. Rented a yellow board car for 1.5k per day and started driving last month,” the user shared.
The driver said he works on ride-hailing platforms such as Uber and Rapido, often driving close to 16 hours a day in Bengaluru. His daily earnings, he said, are around ₹4,000, but expenses leave him with little to take home. “I make around 4k out of which, 1.5k goes to car rent, 1.2k towards CNG and 200 for food/water. That leaves me with close to 1k daily. It's really hard, especially with the traffic in the city,” he wrote.
Beyond the finances, the driver described the physical strain of the job, including leg and knee pain, and limited sleep. He shared that he sleeps for about 6 hours a day and has little time left for anything beyond work.
The OP also highlighted the pressure of app-based driving, including the need to accept rides within seconds to avoid rating penalties. “I wonder how lakhs are doing this cab driving in Bangalore and seem pretty normal for everyone except the drivers. The apps are a demon themselves, and in india it's a donkey job. Millions are ready to work like this just to get about the day, living life on daily basis doing such hard work, unable to save anything at all, risking their health and life every single day,” he wrote.
“The app functions like fastest fingers first. If I don't accept the order quickly, say 5-6 seconds, someone else will. This leads to decrease in my performance rating for not accepting the orders,” he continued.
The driver added that constant monitoring of the phone, traffic stress, fear of ride cancellations, and daily vehicle maintenance adds to the stress.
“Is this even living?“ he asked, adding, “This hardwork takes me nowhere but this is the reality of thousands of jobs for crores of indians. Cheap labour is why others can enjoy the privilege. Either be the exploiter or be exploited.”
(Also Read: Bengaluru CEO shares inspiring interaction with astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla)
Social media reactions
The post drew supportive responses from other Reddit users, many of whom expressed empathy for gig workers.
“That sounds like a tough gig! I have nothing to say except, you will get through this. This too shall pass,” one user wrote.
“Hope everyone gets to read this. We take people who do these jobs for granted. In every line you wrote, I could feel both the mental and physical pain. Life is unfair, to the unprivileged and the privileged who gets to hear these stories and can't do anything,” commented another.
“Thanks for sharing your story. I didn’t knew it was so tough .. Probably this is why autos and cab drivers are so angry . They abuse common people , break traffic rules, cause accidents etc. But now i understand that it is all due to the hardships that they are facing. Thanks again for bringing this up,” wrote a third user.
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)
