Drivers attached to cab aggregator Ola staged a protest on Monday at the Ola office in Murugeshpalya demanding that those who were blacklisted be reinstated.
They alleged that the decision to blacklist drivers was “unilateral” and was denying livelihoods to hundreds of them in the city.
A driver said: “Ola has been blacklisting and removing vehicles from the platform. The drivers are removed for charges such as driver denying duty after passenger books the taxi and poor ratings by passenger. Ola should do a thorough inquiry before removing drivers from the platform and not take unilateral decisions like they are doing now. At least 1,500 to 2,000 drivers have already been removed. They have invested a huge amount to buy the vehicle and are finding it difficult to pay the EMI.”
Commission charge
They also demanded a reduction in commission charge, which they said was as high as 35%. “It should be reduced to 12%. The State government should intervene and come to our help,” said a driver, adding that they also wanted Ola to stop share-ride systems as there was no legal sanction for them and earning from it was poor.
Clarifying its stand, an Ola official said, “Driver partners are only blacklisted when there is a complaint against them. Complete investigation is done before taking such an action.”