Hyderabad: Cab drivers strike creates chaos at airport

 Hyderabad: Air travellers have had a tough time since Wednesday as cab drivers attached to aggregators went off road demanding higher fare.

“It has been tough to commute for air travellers for the past 42 hours. The cabs, which are attached to the app based platform, are not accepting a ride to the airport or from the airport,” a cab driver said.

With cab drivers refusing trips to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, fares have shot up following their #LowFareNoAir campaign. The trip that usually costs Rs 500 has now shot up to Rs 900. During the peak times, it reached Rs 1,500.

According to sources, cab unions have decided to go on strike in the wake of ensuing elections in the state, which would result in a higher flow of air travellers in the city. RGIA is the fourth busiest airport in India, which handled 21 million passengers travelled in fiscal year 2023.

“Cab drivers attached to Ola, Uber, and Rapido in Hyderabad decided to refuse trips to the airport. The fare to travel from the city to the airport is around Rs 500. Out of which, we need to pay the aggregator's commission, and high fuel charges, leaving just pittance for the driver,” said Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union’s Shaik Salauddin.

“As there is heavy political traffic to the city in the wake of elections, we have decided to call for a strike, which created chaos at the airport. As there are hardly any cabs, the peak fare hit Rs 1,500 yesterday,” he explained.

“We have been demanding higher fares for a long time. We approached several political leaders, but they did not help us. Now we forced them to think about our demand.”

Officials at the airport refused to comment on the cab strike. When asked about people facing hardship at the airport, a highly-placed official said, “We did not get any complaint. We have arranged alternate transport facilities from the airport."

Though RGIA reached out to cab drivers, sources said it did not succeed to convince them.