With fewer cabs, autos on the road, it is a long wait for users

Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns forced many cabbies to sell their vehicles or they were seized by lenders

Rachana Ramesh I NT
Bengaluru

With Bengalureans on the move again, the hassle to find autos and cabs has increased. Ride hailing apps such as Ola and Uber used to be of help with their doorstep pickups, but city commuters say they are not reliable anymore.

Nidhi Prakash (name changed), who travels by autos frequently, says for the past six months she has been facing issues with the cab aggregator apps. She hardly finds an auto through them and even when she does, they tend to cancel after finding out the drop destination or mode of payment. “I usually spend 45 minutes looking for autos on the apps. I have to commute through metre autos, who don’t follow the set price,” Nidhi said.

This unavailability is due to a variety of reasons, said Tanveer Pasha, President, Ola Uber Drivers and Owners Association.

Pandemic consequences
Before the Covid-19 struck in early 2020, the city had around 1.5 lakh cab owners, but it has now dwindled to 40,000. The disruption caused by the pandemic was hard for drivers to keep up with family commitments and to pay the EMIs for their vehicle loans, resulting in banks and financial companies seizing the vehicles. Many have also voluntarily surrendered their vehicles. “Around 90% of drivers come from rural backgrounds, and they chose to go home and switch their profession to agriculture or other sustainable jobs,” said Tanveer.

Inflation
While the prices of essential commodities have increased, the fares have not kept pace proportionally. Ola and Uber take a commission of 25%, along with the charges for service and 5% goes to GST leading the auto drivers making only Rs 1,800 on average. The rise in fuel prices has added to their misery.

Cancellation
The workers who have survived the pandemic induced slowdown, are overburdened and may need to cancel rides once in a while to take a breather. Rides are also often cancelled after the driver learns of the mode of payment. “Ola and Uber reimburse their drivers only after 48 hours. It also may take up to 60 hours on occasion,” Pasha said.

The driver pays for the fuel from his own pocket, and he might use the money in cases of emergency, causing issues during refuelling. “This is why they prefer hard cash over online payment and cancel. It is an understandable issue. His (driver’s) needs are never spoken about,” Pasha said.
He mooted that the government must come up with ride hailing applications such as Ola and Uber, and provide subsidies for those buying autos and cabs on the basis of driver licence ownership. Pasha called for a hike in fares and suggested that the metre must be fixed, which will keep both the customers and drivers happy. “If the government does not take any measures now, there will be more shortages in the future,” he concluded.

In addition, DCP, Traffic, West, Kuldeep Kumar R Jain said that the cops are constantly monitoring the busy areas such as bus stands and railway stations, for errant auto-rickshaw drivers charging excess fares from customers. “The Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) has taken up the issue with the Road Transport Department and DC Urban. The department will also try to sort out certain flaws in the system by which the auto-drivers’ community is affected,” he said.