HYDERABAD: As part of nationwide agitations by cab drivers of aggregators Ola and Uber, the Telangana Four Wheeler Drivers Association along with other bodies of cab drivers staged a protest march from Necklace Road to Secretariat on Monday. In Secretariat, members of the association met Transport Department commissioner Sunil Sharma and submitted a list of demands.
The services were, however, partially affected. “I travel everyday to office by Uber. Though there was a surge in price, it wasn’t more than the usual,” says Harish Ram, who travels everyday to Begumpet from Madhapur, indicating that there was a short-availability of cabs.
“When I came to know about the strike in the evening, I took an auto back home,” said Swetha Bajaj, a school student who travels to Ameerpet for classes. Shaik Salauddin, TFWDA president, said: “The Commissioner has promised to set up a roundtable discussion where higher officials from Ola and Uber will also participate to address the problems faced by drivers working for the two companies.”
K Eshwar Rao, president of Telangana Cab Drivers Owners Federation, said that one of the demands in the representation submitted to the transport commissioner included that cab aggregator services should increase fares to `17 per km and customers have their KYC approved to avoid instances of assault on driver. Drivers should be hired under a three-year contract for job security.
Adding that the rise in the cost of petrol is also a major issue, the association members raised several demands they wanted the government to fulfil.