Vijender Saini, 28
Barola village, Noida
As Vijender Saini’s wait for a potential fare near a sprawling commercial complex in Noida’s Sector 132 entered its fifth hour, the 28-year-old animatedly recalled his initial days behind the steering wheel of a sedan attached to a prominent app-based taxi service.
“You see this circle around the blue blimp which means this car?” he asked pointing to the screen of his smartphone attached to a holder stuck on the windshield. “It used to be filled with duties (potential customers) any time of the day and at any given location in the National Capital Region (NCR) when I switched on my device three years ago. Look at it now; nothing. Kaam hai hi nahin (there is simply no work),” he said, his smile wearing off.
Over the last three years, Saini, a resident of Noida’s urbanised Barola village, said he was among lakhs of “average drivers” based in the NCR who rode the “Uber-Ola bubble” to what now “seems to be its conclusion”.
The rush of being “flooded with work” which had greeted their move onto the web-app platform in the name of the “changing times” and attractive incentives has, three years later, become “a daily struggle” given the massive numerical increase of his peers, “more uncertainty” in the rate chart and the risk of “customers with behavioural problems” opting for shared rides.
“Surge pricing may sound like a crime, like something extra that we are fleecing out of our customers without their knowledge, but the truth is that it was the only reason that made this job worthwhile and kept the effect of the increasing number of cabs on the streets uniform and fair for everyone,” he said.
“It was like winning a lottery for both the driver and the passenger; sure the customer would need to pay a little extra but that extra money also ensured instant service. Since surge pricing was banned (in Delhi), both drivers and customers are bearing the brunt,” he added.
The fare-sharing system, which has replaced both surge-pricing and target-linked incentives in relation to the total number of trips being undertaken by a driver, he said has made eking a living more physically exhausting and uncertain for drivers.
The need of the hour, he said, was a fixed rate chart for vehicles even as he complained about “lack of basic courtesy” he routinely observed among passengers opting for shared rides.
“Things have become very difficult for drivers like me who drive sedans which should be operated on higher fares compared to smaller cars. My EMI is higher than a smaller car, but I earn the same fare as the driver of a smaller car. What’s worse is the way fare-sharing passengers behave with each other,” he said.
“I recently ferried a pregnant passenger and a smoker heading to the same location. The man showed no concern for the health of the other occupant and refused to stub his cigarette despite being asked politely. Thankfully, for the lady, it was a short trip,” he said.
