The long-standing tussle between conventional taxi operators and online cabs has touched a raw nerve again, with online cab aggregator Ola approaching the city police against taxi operators to prevent them from operating out of railway stations.
The development comes even as an indefinite strike by the joint action council of auto and taxi drivers at the Ernakulam North railway station entered the fourth day on Monday.
The latest bout of protests began with the Railways inking an agreement with ANI Technologies Pvt Ltd (Ola) on an app-based call taxi service at the Ernakulam Junction railway station for three months from December 8.
Meanwhile, conventional taxi operators are preventing online cabs from offering services, claiming that they are eating into their business.
Conventional operators say they are not receiving a sustainable income despite paying an annual user-fee of around ₹6,000 to the Railways.
The Railways had the other day sought the intervention of the city police to settle the issue. However, a breakthrough is yet to be reached.
