Taxi, cab drivers roll out drive to highlight plethora of woes

Hyderabad: The taxi and cab drivers affiliated to the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers’ Union (TGPWU) initiated a campaign among the customers regarding problems faced in their daily life and with their partners, like Gig platforms, with the introduction of the world of platform-based taxi work.

As a part of the campaign, a booklet is kept by the drivers at the passenger’s seat. The booklet is one step to help you get a peek into the less visible side of the platform.

According to TGPWU, the Centre for Labour Studies at the National Law School, Bangalore, and the Montfort Social Institute, Hyderabad, with the help of TGPWU, did a study among taxi workers in the city. The study, through an in-depth discussion with taxi drivers of Uber and Ola, examined the work-lives and earnings of these workers. The study also tracked some drivers over a few consecutive days of work to get actual work- and earning-related data.

“The results were useful in knowing better the person driving the taxi; they also raised questions about claims of the platforms and their votaries of benefit for taxi drivers from engaging with platform work,” said Shaik Salauddin, founder-president of TGPWU. The study tracked earnings of workers over successive days.

The workers earned on average of around Rs 45,000-50,000 a month after paying commission to the platform. Fuel cost alone took away 40% of earnings. Maintenance cost was high given taxis ran 250-300 km a day; more than 10% of earnings went into maintenance of taxi. Also, the EMI amount paid was on average Rs 13,000 a month, or over 25% of earnings,” pointed out Salauddin.

As per the study, the respondents working with both Uber and Ola, complained of lack of support from the platforms. They said platforms only listened to customers, while their own complaints were mostly ignored.

Salauddin explained that when a customer contacts the app for a ride, the app contacts drivers and arranges the ride. The platform does not own the main asset – the taxi. So the risk of business downturn or taxi repairs are all borne by drivers – this is known as an asset-light business model.

However, the company is aggressively expanding its market share, so that small competitors, including individual drivers with regular customers are driven out of business; the taxi owner has no choice but to join the platform. The platform still holds out the carrot of daily/ weekly incentives for drivers who cross some standard of performance.

“Though the incentives become tougher with targets being constantly changed, drivers have no choice but to stay with the platform, despite a drop in earnings,” Salauddin added. He said the report also highlighted the most common form of health impact-- stress leading to pain. Over half of respondents in the study suffered from chronic back, leg and joint pain. For instance, he said, one respondent had acute back pain for two months.

The pain sometimes became so acute that he could not get up from bed. He spent Rs 35,000 for treatment of his back. The driver said, “I cannot afford regular physiotherapy at Rs 1,000 a session. I bear the pain and carry on working”. Another worker has been taking treatment for back pain for two years, spending on average Rs 1,500-2,000 a month.