Cabbies’ no-AC stir faces commuters’ pushback

KOLKATA: After backlash from passengers and drivers’ reluctance to get into any conflict with the riders during the peak hours, when commuters pay surge fare, the agitators on Monday moderated their stand and decided to switch off the ACs only during the afternoon non-peak hours. From Tuesday, app cabs will switch off their ACs from 1 pm to 5 pm.

The drivers are protesting against their lowered income and the aggregators’ no-refusal policy.

On Monday morning, a section of app cabs ferried passengers with their ACs off, leaving riders miffed. Many drivers started the trips with the AC switched off but later switched it on when the rider threatened to give them worst possible feedback, a rating bad enough for the aggregators like Ola and Uber to block them.




West Bengal Online Cab operators’ Guild general secretary Indranil Banerjee termed the agitation as a “thumping success”. “We have received support from the drivers who don’t belong to our organization. We have urged the app-cabbies to join the agitation without being afraid of the draconian attitude of the aggregators. We hope that more cabbies would join the protest on Tuesday,” said Banerjee.

From early Monday, the guild members started campaigning for the protest at various transit points like Howrah, Sealdah, airport, Esplanade, Gariahat and Hazra crossing. “Now, drivers should not get into any fight with the riders who pay higher fares, which in turn allow them to earn money. When some passengers reacted aggressively against our decision not to turn on the AC, we informed the matter to the guild,” said an app-cab operator who did not wish to be named.

“I was going to Camac Street by paying three times the usual fare. Why should I be sweating in the cab? I asked the driver to turn the AC on and threatened to take him to the police station and lodge a complaint against him with the highest forum if he refused to do so. However, the driver switched the AC on without any argument,” said Bratin Sensharma, senior executive with a jewellery giant.

Everyone was not so lucky. Sulogna Banerjee, a bank employee, rued, “I was in a hurry and the driver told me that the AC in his vehicle was not working. The app-cabbies’ agitation on Monday slipped my mind. Later, I understood that it was the driver’s ploy to keep the AC switched off and I felt like being cheated by the driver and would complain against him.” A Uber spokesperson said, “We regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers.”