Taxi drivers and owners stage protest in front of RTO in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad

By: Pune Pulse

October 9, 2023

Pune : On Monday, a protest was organized by the taxi drivers and owners who are registered with ride sharing organisations of Ola and Uber in front of the Regional Transport Office (RTO) in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad.

The protest was led by Baba Kamble, President, Maharashtra Rickshaw Panchayat, and was attended by the national convenor of the federation Anand Tambe, Sagar Dharma, Sachin Rasal, Swapnil Gawli, Shailesh Kokate, Sharad Harale, Anil Jainore, Shekhar Adsul, Arun Hiwale, Ankush Pawar, Sandeep Rathod, Parmeshwar Sase, Rahul Sakhare, Mayur Tar, Rahul Dhanve, Hanumant Koli, Manohar Patil, Ramesh Jadhav, Piyush Palankar, Sandeep Shewale, Ashok Khajuria, Pitamber Sharma, Bharat Sharma, Gurpreet Singh, Ramesh Sharma, Vijay, Ravinder Singh, Harpreet Singh, and others were present.

The private price of each vehicle is fixed during business transactions. While there are different rates for Ertiga, Dzire vehicles, the Ola Uber company is paying a flat rate of ten rupees to all drivers. This rate is significantly low and has made it difficult for taxi drivers to cover other expenses such as petrol, diesel, etc. During the protest, demand was made to provide a minimum rate of Rs 16 per month.

Speaking to Pune Pulse, Baba Kamble, Maharashtra Rickshaw Panchayat added, ”The transportation services provided by Ola and Uber companies are being offered at a significantly reduced rate in comparison to the rates set by the government. Presently, the government has set a rate of Rs. 12.13 per kilometer, whereas Ola and Uber are charging only Rs. 8 and Rs. 9 per kilometer, respectively. Additionally, it should be noted that these companies are currently imposing a commission rate of 30 to 40 per cent on all rides. Reduction in rates is making it very difficult for drivers to incur the expense of petrol and diesel.”

Madhupriya Dhanwate