Cabbies pay a price in Hyderabad for strike, one attempts suicide

HYDERABAD: A cab driver in the city allegedly attempted suicide on Friday after Uber officials refused to take him back on duty, despite repeated efforts by him since the strike was called off. Like him, scores of other cabbies are having to pay a price for participating in the recent cab strike.
Pavan, a resident of LB Nagar, tried to commit suicide by consuming sleeping pills on Friday morning.He was rushed to a local hospital near his residence. His condition is said to be stable now. “On Thurday, Pavan went to meet Uber officials to get his device unblocked. But the officials refused to take him back and accused him of stealing the phones of other drivers at LB Nagar area during the strike. They pushed him out of the office and even refused to pay his due amount. Depressed, he attempted to end his life,” said Anjaneyulu K, president, Telangana State Cabs’ Association (TSCA).
Several other cab drivers in city too are bearing the brunt of the strike. Taxi aggregators have decided to not let them back to duty till they sign an agreement saying they won’t participate in any kind of strikes against Ola and Uber that would hinder the companies’ businesses.
The Telangana Cab Drivers and Owners Association (TCDOA) claimed that while 18,000 devices were blocked during the strike, 1,500 more have been blocked recently by taxi aggregators. They also alleged that aggregators especially refused to take back drivers who appeared in the media for the strike.
“The drivers who participated in the strike were asked to sign a letter, which stated that they were misled by the members of the union to stop driving and to protest against aggregators. Only devices of drivers who signed the letters were switched on,” said Shiva V, president, TCDOA. “The letter stated that the cabbie had stopped other cabs and was involved in snatching devices, assaulting drivers and damaging vehicles.”
Uber said it was not aware of any suicide attempt by the cabbie and asserted they did not take any action against the cabbies who participated in the strike. Ola officials could not be reached despite repeated attempts.