Visakhapatnam: It's hard to hire app-based cabs

Visakhapatnam: People who use apps to book cabs are having trouble at the city railway station and the bus complex. Autorickshaw drivers do not allow cabs to enter the railway station premises to pick up passengers. A similar situation is witnessed at the bus complex as well. Commuters are forced to carry their luggage and locate their cabs outside the station complex, away from the sight of the autorickshaw drivers.

E. Sailesh, a software engineer who recently had a bitter experience while hiring a cab at the railway station, said, “Many autos do not have a meter, and the ones who do, refuse to charge as per the meter. We have to quarrel with the drivers because they demand high amounts. For this reason, I hire cabs through an app, which is convenient and hassle-free. However, the inaccessibility of cabs at the station premises subjects passengers to a lot of inconveniences.”

Passengers want the government authorities to intervene and ensure that they are not inconvenienced. Meanwhile, autorickshaw drivers feel that their interests are being compromised. M. Raju, a rickshaw driver, said “It is unfair; we keep waiting for hours to get passengers, and the taxis come and pick them up easily. The cabs should be charged higher than others to ensure neutrality for all stakeholders in the local transport sector.”

The Railway ministry had decided to provide parking space and kiosk facilities to cab aggregators at 500 railway stations. Some stations have already inked service agreements. The project was to have been taken up at a zonal level, to generate revenue from non-fare sources. Senior railway officials from the Waltair Railway Division refused to comment on the progress of the project.