Mumbai: Ola, Uber call off strike till November 15 to avoid inconvenience during Diwali

The strike was called off on the condition that cab aggregators -- Ola and Uber -- would prepare a new fare chart on price-per-kilometre, by mid-November, which will take into consideration the rising fuel prices, sources said.

By: Express News Service

Mumbai | Updated: November 3, 2018 11:38 AM IST

3 min read

Ola uber driver, ola uber strike, demands of ola uber drivers, Maharashtra assembly, Devendra Fadnavis, Diwakar Raote. Indian Express

Ola and Uber on Thursday threatened to go off the roads from November 17 (Representational)

After causing inconvenience to commuters for the past 12 days, cab aggregators — Ola and Uber — called off the strike on Friday. The unions called for a temporary truce till November 15 so as to not cause further problems during Diwali next week.

The announcement came four days after stakeholders held a meeting with the state transport officials and minister Diwakar Raote at the Mantralaya. The strike was called off on the condition that cab aggregators would prepare a new fare chart on price-per-kilometre, by mid-November, which will take into consideration the rising fuel prices, sources said. Till then, both Ola and Uber will follow a Diwali-incentive scheme in which cab drivers will earn a profit on every ride, the sources added.

Both the cab aggregators have confirmed that there will be no increase in the fare for customers.

Read | Mumbai: Ola asks drivers to resume services

Sachin Bhosale from Maharashtra Rajya Kamgar Sangh said, “The companies have agreed to think through our demands till November 15. Till that time, we will avail an incentive scheme from the companies that will ensure we get paid better. The scheme will help us clear the losses sustained in the past 12 days of the strike.”

As part of the scheme, Uber has decided to provide an incentive of Rs 825 for every two trips and Rs 20,000 for every 45 trips, to each driver, taken during the day.

Since October, both Ola and Uber drivers have been on an indefinite strike. As many as 500 drivers of the Maharashtra Rajya Kamgar Sangh participated in the stir.

On Monday, senior officials from the legal departments of Ola and Uber held a meeting with the drivers. “We want an increase in the minimum base fares. Which means, the minimum base fares would increase to Rs 12 per km for micro cars, Rs 15 per km for Sedan and Rs 19 per km for SUVs. The companies also promised to compensate us on the losses incurred during the protest,” Sudhir Bhosale from the Maharashtra Rajya Kamgar Sangh said. The drivers also asked the companies not to increase the number of leased cars (owned by companies) for fair business practice.

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The drivers have threatened to resume the strike on November 15 if their demands are not met.

An Uber spokesperson said, “Uber is pleased to announce that independent driver partners registered with the Uber app in Mumbai will return to work immediately, effectively ending a 12-day-old strike. A special Diwali incentive for Uber drivers, who wished to resume driving, that was due to expire 5 November 2018, will now be extended till 15 November, 2018. Uber will also endeavour to examine a fuel price based earnings index to look at ways of making net earnings on the Uber platform more sustainable.’’

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