Ola-Uber strike at airport: Passengers landing in Pune face travel issues amid cab strikes

“The Uber app is allowing me to book a cab, but the ride does not get accepted by anyone and the price is too high,” said Sakshi, a student studying at COEP Technological University in Pune. “The drivers at the airport said there is a strike but they were accepting offline and private rides for the same hiked fare,” She added.

Passengers who were able to book cabs were disappointed to find the rides to be cancelled by the drivers or were called and asked to cancel themselves. “I was fortunate to book a cab on Ola, but the driver called me to say that they are on strike and that I should look for other means of transport,” said Deepak, currently residing in Pune.

Many people faced even more difficulty due to the shortage of private cabs. An influx of passengers at a time proved to be a hassle for travellers, with only a limited number of cabs being operational. “We have to resort to private cabs that are charging double the money we would normally pay, but even those are not available,” said Kavita Jain, who was in Pune for a business trip. “I got to know about the strike from the on-ground crew when I landed, and they said there are private cabs that we can take but those are also limited,” she added. Some passengers also complained about having to wait for the private cabs, once many of them had already been booked by other people.

“I came here expecting I will get a cab easily because I thought the cab strike was only in Mumbai,” said another passenger. “This is completely unexpected and a difficult situation for people who have to travel long distances from the airport and the private cab drivers are agreeing to go to such far distances only if we pay them much more than the normal price,” he said.

(Writer is an intern with The Indian Express)