Thousands of drivers in Assam are refusing to use services of Ola, Uber, and Rapido due to payment problems

• ByStartupStory     |    February 4, 2023

Starting on February 1st, the online taxi aggregators Ola and Uber will no longer offer their services in Guwahati, Assam. The Rapido bike aggregator service will also be subject to the restriction. 

The aggregators’ services will no longer be offered by about 18,000 taxi drivers and 16,000 Rapido bike riders. According to The Meghalayan, there will be two local taxi companies operating in the city: Pei India and AM2. 

The judgement took effect due to the persistent harassment of the cab drivers in the area by these aggregators. All Assam Cab Mazdoor Sangha and All Guwahati Bike and Taxi Union were responsible for the action. The two groups decided to stop offering the services in response to cab aggregators’ ongoing harassment of cab drivers.

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 installments in the banks and finance companies for loans against vehicles and maintain our family also,” he added.

The drivers have requested the government to launch a new app application to ensure the seamless operation of their services throughout the protests. 

After months of legal wrangling with the state government in the Bombay high court over the failure to provide vital information, including the absence of an operating license, Rapido announced last month that it will cease all of its bike-taxi services in Maharashtra.

 

 

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