In TN, rides via cab apps have turned from convenient to nightmarish

Once thought to be convenient for passengers and lucrative for drivers, rides via cab aggregators are now turning out to be nightmares for both parties in Tamil Nadu. Issues between the drivers associated with the cab aggregators and passengers have been simmering for long, but these have come to the fore with a passenger and a driver being killed in two separate incidents in a span of five days in the state.

On July 3, a 34-year-old engineer, Umendra, along with his family from Coimbatore, was returning to his hosts’ house from a mall on Rajiv Gandhi Salai in Navalur, Chennai. His wife booked the cab and, on boarding, the driver Ravi asked for the one-time password, or OTP.

Also read: Ola driver allegedly kills techie-passenger in Chennai over OTP skirmish

According to the police, there was some confusion in sharing the OTP and after a heated argument, the driver asked the family to get down from the car and share the OTP first.

“Umendra got out of the car and he allegedly slammed the car door, which led to a fight between Umendra, his family members and driver Ravi. In the CCTV footage, it could be seen that Umendra and his family members were beating up Ravi and he pushed Umendra down,” Chennai police said.

As Umendra collapsed on the spot, he was rushed to a hospital, where he was declared ‘brought dead’ and police arrested Ravi.

While this is the case where a driver was arrested for killing a passenger due to a fight over sharing the OTP, a 30-year-old cab driver was killed near Chengalpattu by a robbery gang.

According to the police, a four-member gang booked a ride through one of the cab aggregators’ mobile applications, from Tambaram in Chennai to Vallam near Chengalpattu. “The four-member gang has gone to Vallam to conspire on a robbery plan and upon sensing something amiss, the driver, Arjun, has asked the four members to finish the ride. However, the gang threatened the driver to leave the cab with them,” police said.

In this incident, the gang killed the cab driver by slitting his throat.

Drivers’ grievances

Drivers associated with the cab aggregators claim that the poor working conditions and the unwillingness of the cab aggregators to ensure the safety of the drivers and passengers have led to the degeneration of the whole system.

“We never know who is on the other side. At the time of associating ourselves with the cab aggregators, we are required to submit our documents including Aadhaar, RC book etc via mobile application. Once we are added, we get a booking and it goes on. There is no human interaction and there is no place to address the issues that we face while taking bookings,” K Daas, a driver associated with a cab aggregator for five years, said.

Explaining in detail, Daas also alleges that the cab aggregators don’t adhere to the rules when it comes to passengers.

“Only passengers who complete Know Your Customer (KYC) should be allowed to book a cab. But, off late, most of the customers we get are without KYC and even if we know that a passenger has committed a crime or the passenger assaults, it is difficult to file an official complaint. That’s the case with Arjun. One of the four members in the gang, who booked the cab has not completed the KYC, still, he managed to book a cab for illegal activity,” Daas added.

Most of the drivers to whom The Federal spoke to, also alleged that the passengers don’t treat them with respect and there is no platform for them to air their grievances. “We are also humans. We own the car and just because we are associated with a cab aggregator, how can we let the customer treat us disrespectfully. Most of the time we get agitated only when they damage our car,” said Udhay, a cab driver in Chennai.

On the other hand, regular users of taxi services through the mobile applications of the cab aggregators alleged that the drivers don’t accept rides unless they are paid more than the tariff shown at the time of a booking.

“Every time we book, they call and ask for the location and bargain an amount additional to what is fixed by the cab aggregator and only after we accept all their demands, do they confirm the ride. Sometimes, they say ‘okay’ over the call and later cancel the ride. Nowadays, the process of taking a cab through these aggregation apps itself has become more painful,” S Sushmitha, a resident of Vadapalani, said.

Few of them alleged the drivers wilfully take a longer route to get additional money for the ride. “Almost all the drivers do this and I am tired of it. A couple of days ago, the ride was just 10 kilometres, but the driver detoured to my location traveling 15 kilometres from my pick-up point,” V Vishwanathan, a resident of Pallavaram, alleged.

Most of the regular users of taxis, through aggregation applications, told The Federal that they have stopped using the apps and gone back to the old way of taking rides through the drivers in their locality.

“Since I started to take regular rides through my local cab driver, I don’t have the headache of booking a cab. The cab driver knows me well and I also know him since he is also from the same locality. The cost also seems to be more or less the same as what I used to pay through the cab aggregators,” said KK Nagar resident Usha Rani, who works at IT park in Ramapuram.

Also read: Consumer rights body pulls up Ola, Uber over unfair trade practices

‘Forced to ask for more money’

When asked about demanding excess fare from passengers, drivers of the cab aggregators complained that almost 35% of their earnings are taken as a commission by the cab aggregation application. “The actual commission is 20% only. But, they add taxes and fines and take 35% of our income. That’s why we are forced to ask for more money from the passengers,” Udhay said.

When asked about it, a retired DSP from Chennai, who is a legal consultant for one of the cab aggregators said that the overall usage of the cabs through the cab aggregator has reduced by 50%. Accepting that the working conditions of the cab drivers are not good, the retired DSP said that the aggregators are also working on it to create a good working atmosphere.

“Let it be passengers, drivers, or the police, nobody cooperates with us. Take the case of Umendra, our system shows that Umendra has cancelled the cab much before getting into the cab. So, we don’t know from where the quarrel for an OTP arises, it was just the reason given by the passenger. We also sought the help of the Chennai police, but they are in no mood to help us,” the retired DSP said.

Speaking about the murder of the cab driver, the DSP said that it was an untoward incident and that the cab aggregation company would be giving a solatium of ₹5 lakh to the family of the deceased apart from taking care of the education of the two children of the driver.