The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the Delhi Police to ensure the safety of Ola and Uber drivers who were being subjected to violence for not participating in the strike called by two taxi drivers’ unions.
“The Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) or any other officer of equal rank nominated by the Commissioner of Police is requested to ensure that drivers/owners having contract with plaintiffs (Ola and Uber) and wanting to ply are not stopped or blocked, and that their vehicles are not damaged,” said Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw.
The court also told the drivers’ unions, which had called the strike, that they would not gain from these companies through agitations as these business modules would move to “better cities”.
“You cannot demand anything from plaintiffs except by peaceful commercial negotiations,” the court told the two drivers’ unions.
The directions came after Ola and Uber contended that despite court orders earlier this week, which restrained the two drivers’ unions from blocking or interfering with their services, there had been incidents of violence — including one where a cab was burnt.
Unions deny violence
The two unions — Sarvodaya Driver Association of Delhi (SDAD) and the Rajdhani Tourist Drivers’ Union — denied involvement in any such incident.
The court, however, noted that “if not by the defendants (SDAD and Rajdhani), then the incidents were happening at behest of the defendants as no one else would be interested in indulging therein”.
The court said that if such incidents continued, the defendants would stand to lose as people would take to other means of transport. It added that if the unions were unhappy with Ola and Uber, then they could turn to the black and yellow taxis.
