Maharashtra’s three-wheeler autorickshaw drivers Sunday, had asked the government to fulfill their demands otherwise they would start an indefinite state-wide strike from July 9.
They have demanded the government to shut down ride-hailing companies such as Ola and Uber because according to them, they are illegal startups. Demand also included to form a welfare body for auto drivers making them eligible for pension, provident fund, gratuity, and medical help.
“More than 10 lakh auto drivers across Maharashtra, including two lakh in Mumbai alone, will go on indefinite strike from July 9 if our demands are not met,” Shashank Sharad Rao, union lead of Mumbai automen, said.
“We will hand over our demands list to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and transport minister Diwakar Raote and wait till June 30,” he added.
The union also demanded a revision in the auto fares in accordance to the Hakim Committee recommendations and to set up flying squads to prevent illegal passenger traffic, and reduce insurance prices as well.
Ola was founded in December 2010 as an online cab services in Mumbai. It is an online transportation network company developed by ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
As of May 2019, Ola was valued at about $6.2 billion. The company has expanded to a network of more than 1,000,000 vehicles across 169 cities.
While, Uber is an American multinational transportation network company which is based-out of San Francisco.
It offers services that include peer-to-peer ridesharing, ride service hailing, food delivery, and a bicycle-sharing system.
Earlier in 2016, a similar situation had occurred in the national capital when Autorickshaw Sangh and Delhi Pradesh Taxi Union called for an indefinite strike against the ride-hailing companies. At that time, taxi drivers have said that Ola-Uber’s operation without any taxi license is hurting drivers’ livelihoods.