Drivers registered with taxi-hailing app, Ola, agreed to return to work on Thursday after the Maharashtra Navnirman Vahatuk Sena (MNVS), the transport union of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, brokered a deal with the cab aggregator at Andheri police station.
However, Uber drivers will remain off the road till the company’s management agrees to their demands at a meeting scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
MNVS leaders said that Ola agreed on Wednesday to reinstate blacklisted drivers and requested 15 to 20 days’ time to meet the demands of the protesters. The drivers have demanded that the company shut down its leasing service and ensure they earn ₹1.25 lakh a month.
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Written assurance
Sanjay Naik, president of MNVS, said that Ola had given a written assurance to the drivers. Mr. Naik said, “Nearly 3,000 drivers were blacklisted over the past five to six years. The company also agreed to dismiss the 70 bouncers they had employed and facilitate driver-partner agreements in Marathi as well. If they fail to fulfil these assurances within 20 days, we will launch another strike.”
The written statement, which is in possession of Andheri police, states that Ola will facilitate the reinstatement of driver partners who have no criminal cases against them. The letter also states that all demands will be met in 15 to 20 days in accordance with the company’s policy. Baburao Samas, vice president of MNVS, said, “We found that drivers being blacklisted on frivolous grounds. They should be reinstated unless they have committed some grievous crime. We will review the cases of blacklisted drivers and if they have no serious charges against them, we will ask Ola to issue letters to reinstate them.”
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80 cars damaged
An official from a leading cab hailing company said that over the past three days they had received over 80 complaints of cars being vandalised and around 30 mobiles being stolen. An Ola driver on condition of anonymity said that MNS workers booked cabs using the Ola app to round up drivers who were still accepting rides. He said, “The drivers did not know who had booked the ride. When they approached the client, they found about MNS workers waiting to beat them up and damage the car.”
Another Ola driver said, “Around 9.30 a.m. on Wednesday, I logged in to the app and accepted a ride. As I was reaching the destination, around 10 to 15 people stopped my car and surrounded me.” The driver said that the incident took place in Chembur near Santacruz-Chembur Link Road.
“Since my mobile was logged in, there was no way I could deny that I had accepted the booking. As soon I got out of the car, they hit me and damaged my car. They even took away my mobile phone.” The driver, who is a resident of Kurla, said he had been taking out his car for two or three trips before going offline. “My home won’t run if I don’t accept rides,” he said.
The driver said he did not want to inform the police about the incident as he feared that would lead to his name being revealed while filing an official complaint.