Vexed by the heavy charges by Ola as part of their lease agreements, over 150 Ola drivers are protesting outside Ola’s S R Layout, Murgeshpallya office. The drivers are carrying boards and shouting slogans, Inc42’s reporter at the scene said.
Talking to Inc42, one of the drivers protesting outside the office said, “We have to pay INR 1,000 every day for leased car. We see the demand in the area while booking, in summer, there are fewer bookings. With respect to that, 3 point AC doesn’t help and we face losses. We work 18 hours, and earn INR 3,000 out of which we pay INR 1,100 to Ola. We have to pay INR 1,000 for diesel, and then more for commission and at the end we are left with INR 300. From last 4 months, we gave notice to Ola and also asked for standard rates.”
The people at the protest also said that cab drivers who have taken cars on lease from Ola have alleged that the company has not transferred ownership of the cars even after the drivers had completed three years of the lease.
Few of Ola staff members are handling the crowd and trying to get their list of demands to be addressed.
Ola originally started its cab leasing programme in September 2015, as part of an initiative aimed at allowing its drivers to borrow taxis at cheaper interest rates. To avail the facility, partner drivers are required to make an initial deposit as well as monthly instalments for a period ranging from three to five years.
Ola representatives declined to comment on the situation.
The story is developing, stay tuned for more details.
Edit Note 1
The earlier version of the story had mentioned 25-30 drivers, it has been updated now.
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