Mumbai: None of the cab aggregators made any effort to engage with the protesters or acknowledge challenges faced by drivers, Keshav Kshirsagar, president of Indian Gig Workers’ Front (IGF), told ThePrint at Azad Maidan where he has been on an indefinite hunger strike since 18 July. After almost a week of protests and strikes, on and off, drivers affiliated with app-based cab aggregators Uber and Ola, among others, called off their agitation last week following intervention by the Maharashtra government.
Maharashtra Transport Commissioner Vivek L. Bhimanwar, IAS, is scheduled to hold a meeting here with RTO officials from Pune, Mumbai, and Nagpur at noon Thursday. The agenda of the meeting is to address concerns raised by drivers’ unions over fare structures and the lack of formal communication from app-based cab aggregators.
Another meeting is set to take place shortly after, where the deputy RTO officer of Mumbai, Ravi Gaikwad, will join Kshirsagar and cab aggregators’ representatives to discuss and negotiate fare structures. “We deserve rightful fares. If tomorrow’s meeting fails to yield a solution, we will be left with no choice but to resume the strike. We’ve made every effort to avoid it, but if the authorities continue to delay or sidestep the issue, we will have no option but to intensify our agitation,” a spokesperson for the IGF told ThePrint Wednesday.
The previous day, representatives of the protesting drivers met Additional Transport Commissioner Bharat Kalaskar who directed app-based aggregators to commit in writing that they would comply with the state’s official Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) guidelines. In a video statement later in the day, Kalaskar said, “The companies have agreed to comply with the government-approved RTO rates for respective cities and not block driver IDs for charging fares in line with RTA guidelines.
“We have asked the (ride-hailing) companies to provide us with a written statement committing to comply with the tariff rates as per RTA guidelines by tomorrow (23 July).”
ThePrint reached Ola and Uber via emails for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
The protest began on 15 July in major cities across Maharashtra, including Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur, with Azad Maidan as the epicentre. Thousands of cab and auto drivers logged out of ride-hailing apps and stayed off the roads, demanding implementation of the revised Motor Vehicle Aggregator (MVA) guidelines, 2025. This mass strike by drivers left citizens struggling to find cabs, especially during office hours. Those who did manage to book rides were hit with massive surge fares, reportedly reaching as high as Rs 60-70 per km.
The protesting drivers were invited to meet Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik the same day. However, feeling their concerns were taken lightly, Kshirsagar launched an indefinite hunger strike at Azad Maidan on 18 July. Despite the strike having been called off for now, Kshirsagar intends to continue his indefinite hunger strike at Azad Maidan.
Speaking to ThePrint at Azad Maidan, he said, “None of the ride-hailing companies had made any effort to engage with the protestors or acknowledge the challenges faced by the very drivers they call ‘partners’. Instead, they continue to exploit us. Going forward, we want all communication from them to come solely through government authorities.”
The drivers had put their strike on hold Saturday, giving the government time to act till 22 July. But they decided to charge passengers per the government-notified rates. To ensure transparency, IGF launched a site, OnlyMeter.in, for passengers to check the accurate fare, while drivers would continue using the route suggested by the respective aggregator.
Adding to the unrest, a 46-year-old driver said to be working with a leading cab aggregator, Sanoj Saxena, died by suicide on 18 July in Nalasopara, reportedly due to financial distress.
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What protesters are demanding
The protesters are calling for on-ground enforcement of the existing revised MVA guidelines issued by the government on 1 July, 2025. These include fare rationalization (setting a minimum fare and capping surge pricing), limits on the number of cab and auto permits, social security for gig-workers and activation of the Drivers’ Welfare Board.
The only additional demand is a ban on bike taxis, which have led to increased competition and poor utilisation of existing cabs and autorickshaws.
Gajanan Gatte, a 30-year-old who came from Pimpri-Chinchwad to the protest site at Azad Maidan, told ThePrint, “Buying a rickshaw on loan costs around Rs 3.75 lakh (with Rs 1.25 lakh as interest). Daily CNG requirement is about Rs 400-450. And at the end of the day, when only Rs 100-150 are left in my pocket, I feel ashamed to go back home. Because Rs 100-150 is not enough to cover even daily expenses.”
According to the MVA guidelines, fare rates for cabs and autos are to be determined by Road Traffic Authorities including district collectors, RTOs, and DCP (Traffic) based on economic indicators like the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI).
These metrics are intended to ensure that drivers earn a sustainable income.
However, in practice, ride-hailing companies often set fares primarily based on competitive pricing rather than regulatory standards.
“The Road Traffic Authority of Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) has set the fare at about Rs 32 per km, but companies like Ola and Uber are offering drivers just Rs 8-9 per km. They are making drivers work for barely a quarter of what they rightfully deserve. This leads to an average income of only Rs 10-12 thousand a month,” said Kshirsagar.
Another major challenge for the drivers is what they see as unjust blocking of their IDs by ride-hailing platforms.
Shubham Shrivastav, a Pune-based cab driver at Azad Maidan, told ThePrint, “Our profiles are not safe on these apps. If we have the slightest argument with a passenger, and they raise a complaint or drop an email, our IDs get permanently blocked. Uber doesn’t give drivers a chance to justify, Ola gives three warnings and Rapido is the worst, they don’t give any response. I once refused to let a passenger drink alcohol in the cab, and he falsely raised a complaint against me for rash driving which got my ID blocked.”
The Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970 governs the employment and conditions of contract labour in India, including those hired through third-party contractors.
Under the new Labour Codes introduced in 2019, a gig worker is defined as “a person who performs work or participates in a work arrangement and earns from such activities outside of traditional employer-employee relationship”.
Going by this definition, cab and auto drivers qualify as gig workers, making them eligible for protections such as minimum wages. However, they continue to lack essential rights, including job security, disability benefits, insurance coverage and access to a formal platform for raising grievances. In practice, many platforms have failed to implement relevant government policies, and the issue has seen limited attention in the courts.
Earlier this month, speaking in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, state Labour Minister Akash Fundkar had also highlighted the need to have separate laws for ‘platform workers’ who work for various app-based platforms like Swiggy, Zomato, Ola, Uber, among others.
Ride-hailing companies have been shifting from a commission-based model to a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model since last year. Under the earlier system, platforms took a 20-30 percent cut of each ride as commission. In contrast, the SaaS model charges drivers a fixed platform fee for using the app to connect with passengers.
Last month, Ola announced that it was shifting to a nationwide zero-commission model, allowing drivers to keep 100 percent of their earnings, with no cap on the number of rides or income. In exchange, drivers are required to subscribe to the platform, choosing between daily or monthly subscription plans to continue accessing the app.
This shift effectively repositions ride-hailing companies outside the legal definition of “aggregators”, creating a regulatory loophole under the MVA guidelines and complicating the policy enforcement.
According to Kshirsagar, “Their (ride-hailing apps’) latest agreements with drivers also states that fare rates will not be determined by the company but mutually agreed upon between drivers and passengers.
“This is a major discrepancy between how these companies present themselves, what is stated in their legal documentation and practical realities on the ground.”
Abhishek Nimbhorkar is an alum of ThePrint School of Journalism, currently interning with ThePrint.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)