Taxi drivers, including those on apps like Ola and Uber, are seeing a decline in the number of bookings over the last 10 days.
App-based taxi drivers attribute this to two factors: people, especially those in the IT sector working from home, and decline in the number of bookings from people arriving at Kempegowda International Airport. “I waited for five hours yesterday for a ride from the airport. Usually, the wait is never beyond one hour,” said an Uber driver.
Tanveer Pasha, president, Ola, Uber Drivers and Owners’ Association, said that there was a dip in the number of bookings per day to the extent of 40%. “On an average, our cab drivers would see 10 bookings in 12 hours. Now, to finish 10 trips, our drivers have to work for 15 to 18 hours,” he said.
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Call taxi services are reeling from the drop in bookings. K. Radhakrishna Holla, president of the Karnataka State Travel Operators’ Association, said that their industry had collapsed. “We are seeing a cancellation of 60% bookings for on-call taxi services. In addition, there is no local travel as it is exam season,” he said. He added that the situation has been grim over the past 10 days. “I have not seen dull business to this extent for the last 27 years,” he said.