Driven' up the wall? Karnataka cabbies protest

The void in Bengaluru's transport system was filled, much to people’s relief, by app-based cab services. The government clamping down on these aggregators in terms of surge pricing, safety rules and city permits has had them up in arms against regulations they call unfair. Still, it’s the drivers out protesting, who bear the brunt.

Never able to hail a cab as easily as Mumbaiites,  Bengalureans have been enjoying the  luxury of having app based cab operators at  their beck and call. But with concerns over safety and the surge pricing by the cabs  marring these otherwise efficient services,  the government came up with the Transportation Technology Aggregators Act 2016, which  bans over-charging, insists on the operators holding a license, displaying the details of the drivers in their cabs, applying for city permits, installing a non-detachable GPS, and setting up a call centre.                                                                                                                                

Aggregators have continued operating regardless, however. Left with no option, the department  intensified the implementation process, seizing over a 1000 vehicles for non-compliance of its rules.

Angry Ola and Uber drivers took to the streets on Tuesday to protest, saying their  livelihood was at stake. “The drive makes difference to the companies, and is only penalizing the drivers. These people are wealthy and  a few cabs being seized makes no difference to them. But it does to us. We have to run to the RTO at least three or four times and visit the court to pay the penalty to get our vehicle released. All this takes up to two weeks. The aggregator reimburses the penalty but we lose business. Who will compensate us for that?” asked an Uber driver, Anjappa.

Cab aggregators call the new rules impractical as theirs is a market-driven business too.  Adding a premium during peak hours is their prerogative, and insist that without it they cannot operate at low cost in non-peak hours.  
Arguing that the non-detachable GPS and panic buttons are entirely uncalled for, an Uber spokesperson said the app has emergency features, which can be used in times of crisis which are “more effective” than a panic button. “The printing facility is absurd as the app is linked to gmail accounts and passengers get an invoice. In this era of technology, all this is very degrading,” he protested.

Clearly unwilling to comply with government norms, cab aggregators don’t store information on drivers and trips  digitally as required. Vehicles still don’t have display boards with the driver’s details. Cab companies have not yet established a grievance cell or call centre, which requires huge investment in terms of cost and manpower. City permits are given a miss too; most cabs operate with state permits as they allow them to do business outside Bengaluru. A city permit alone would hit their livelihood, especially on weekends, they maintain.

The long-suffering commuter, is afraid of losing the one good thing that has happened to him in years. One frequent cab user, Manivannan G Shekara, says the solution is not to ban these services.  “If you ban Ola and Uber, it will not solve the issue, but only leave a lot of drivers jobless.”

5 sticking points

1. The Transportation Technology Aggregators Act 2016’ categorically bans overcharging by the app based aggregators, however, the surge pricing continues. Aggregators like Uber and Ola say that it is driven by market dynamics RTO says it is against the norms and amounts to over charging. In fact, they say they operate like any other industry. For instance, the fare of inter-state buses goes up during weekends, the price of warmer clothes goes up during winter and so on.
2. Undoubtedly, safety of passengers has been the biggest concern and hence non-detachable GPS with printing facility and panic buttons were made compulsory. Again this is yet to be complied by majority of the cab operators. Uber spokesperson pointed out, “The app has emergency features which can be used in times of crisis and which is more affective than a panic button. Again printing facility is absurd as app is linked to gmail accounts and we sent the invoice to our passengers. In the era technology, this is very degrading.
3. Records pertaining to drivers, vehicles, and passengers trips must be recorded in digital form and shall be open for inspection. And display boards pertaining to drivers details are mandatory. But none of the vehicles can be seen with these display boards.
4. Establishment of a grievance cell or a call centre has been made mandatory and yet again it is yet to be fulfilled. The cab aggregators prefer to solve all the queries through email as establishing up a call centre is costly and needs huge human resource and the process becomes more manual.
5. All cabs under these aggregators have been asked to get city permits; however, 90 percent of them still have state permits only. Cab drivers say it restricts them from doing business outside Bengaluru and hits their livelihood especially during weekends.

Drivers bear the brunt
Anjappa, a driver from Uber says, “Once our cab is seized, we have run to and from the RTO office, then pay a penalty in court. The aggregator reimburses the penalty but we lose business for 15-20 days.” However, Joint Commissioner Bengaluru urban, Narendra Holkar points out, “App based aggregators have been charging exorbitantly. Drivers know about the new norms and violations by these operators. If they want to conduct business, they can do so independently without attaching themselves with these platforms.” Ola and Uber management refrained from commenting.

No more drives against the app based cabs
Following the uproar by cab drivers, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy has ordered the RTO to stop their drive or any kind of vehicle seizure against the cabs.

We are not against anyone. We have no issue if there are 100 aggregators . All we are saying is they must comply with the guidelines of the transport department. What if something untoward happens? The transport department will be blamed for it. The aggregators have sought  time  to fall in line.
— Ramalinga Reddy, Transport minister

Cabs clog roads, cops helpless
Passengers heading from the airport to the city were held up for nearly an hour as over 500 Ola and Uber drivers gathered near the airport Toll Plaza  blocking the road,  to protest the RTO drive against them,  Tuesday morning.

Around 1500 vehicles were stuck in a massive traffic jam, according to  RTO inspector, Kariappa, whose warning to the drivers at around 8.45 am against ferrying airport passengers, triggered the snap protest. One passenger, Raghuram P , who was heading to Koramangala after arriving from Mumbai, said not a single vehicle was able to move for nearly an hour. “I was stuck for 40 minutes in the traffic mess,” he added.

Mr Kariappa said he had warned the Ola and Uber cabs parked at the airport that their vehicles would be seized if they carried passengers to the city without complying to government norms. “Although they agreed to leave , they later began to create a lot of chaos near the toll gate. The traffic police and the law and order police rushed to the spot and asked them to stop their protest as it was affecting the traffic. They also assured them that the matter would be discussed  across the table at the Bagalur Police station at 4 pm,” he added.

The drivers then headed to Freedom Park to launch another massive protest there. While additional commissioner for transport, H G Kumar and Mr Maruti Sambrani, enforcement officer of Bengaluru South held talks with them at the park,  transport minister Ramalinga Reddy ordered the RTO to stop its drive against the cabs, bringing the protest to an end.