Thousands Of Drivers Boycott Ola, Uber, Rapido Services In Assam Over Payment Issues

Thousands of drivers of Ola, Uber and Rapido are reportedly boycotting the services of the aggregators in Assam’s Guwahati against alleged harassment by them.

The All Assam Cab Mazdoor Sangha has given the call for boycotting the services of the ride-hailing companies, The Meghalayan reported.

About 18,000 cab operators and 16,000 bike riders joined the boycott from Wednesday (February 1), the report 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 40-60% of the commission from cab drivers per trip. This is not reasonable,” Jyotish Deka, general secretary of the All Assam Cab Mazdoor Sangha, was quoted as saying in the report. 

However, Ola claims that the company’s commission is 20% or less and the partners are paid before noon the next day.

Deka, on the other hand, was cited as saying that the cab aggregators are also taking away the dynamic prices from the cab and bike operators. “We work for 18-20 hours. We have to pay instalments in the banks and finance companies for loans against vehicles and maintain our family also,” Deka added.

One of the major demands of the All Assam Cab Mazdoor Sangha is for the aggregators to provide social security benefits to the drivers. The general secretary noted that under the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines 2020, health insurance and provident fund are to be provided to the drivers, but the cab aggregators have failed to do so.

Meanwhile, customers can still avail ride-hailing services from two local cab operators, Pei India and AM2, in Guwahati. Ola was cited by Mint as saying that its services are running seamlessly as a majority of its partners have not joined the boycott.

Inc42 has reached out to Ola and Uber for comments on the boycott in Assam. The story will be updated on receiving responses from the companies. 

It must be noted that as per a report by Fairwork India Ratings in December 2022, Ola and Uber scored zero ratings on the working conditions of gig workers. 

“Even with workers and worker groups repeatedly emphasising the importance of a stable income for platform workers, platforms have been reluctant to publicly commit to, and operationalise a minimum wage policy,” said the report.

Last month, a female Uber driver was allegedly attacked by unidentified robbers in Delhi’s Kashmere Gate area. The victim, Priyanka Devi, told Quint that despite pressing the panic button installed in the car during the robbery attempt, no help was provided to her.

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