BENGALURU: Despite an announcement by Uber and Ola drivers’ associations that they would not be plying owing to the protest, many drivers opted to ply. But most of them were stopped by protesting drivers and members of various taxi associations at Jalahalli, Yeshwanthpur, Marathalli, Mysore Bank Circle, Freedom Park, ITPL, KR Puram and Jakkasandra.
Interestingly, these drivers used WhatsApp groups to track the vehicles that were running and subsequently stopped them.
A cab driver said, “There are eight taxi associations and we have many area-specific WhatsApp groups. We shared information about taxis plying in a particular area in order to help members present in those localities stop them.”
Passengers were forced to take autorickshaws and ended up shelling out exorbitant fares. BMTC buses also looked crowded following reports of the strike.
Rajeev Kumar, who was heading from Yeshwanthpur to Majestic Railway station in an Uber cab, asked to get out of the cab and make alternate arrangements.
“What else can I do in such a situation? As soon as I got down from the cab, there were already three auto drivers waiting to make the most of the opportunity. One of them quoted Rs 300. I picked up the one who demanded the lowest, but I still paid more than usual.”Bandita Kaushik who was travelling from HSR Layout to Queen’s Road in an Uber cab said, “My cab was stopped in Jakkasandra. I was late to office. I could not find any auto rickshaws around, so I took a bus till Koramangala and then took an auto.”
Mitali Choudhry, who had booked an Ola cab from Majestic to Cunningham Road, was stopped at Freedom Park. To her good luck, a policeman helped her. “I was going to receive my cousin at the railway station. I was very scared when they asked me to get down. I am happy that the policeman came on time,” she said. 'Many cab users were even unable to book one. The taxi-hailing apps showed ‘all cabs are currently in use.’
Biswajit Medhi, who travels from Cunningham Road to Koramangala by Uber Pool, said, “I tried to book a cab multiple times in the evening but failed. Finally, I had to take an Ola auto.”