Mumbai taxi drivers strike over Uber
Thousands of Mumbai&rsquo;s taxi cabs went on strike today, protesting against the growing threat posed by Uber and other ride-hailing services. The city was all but gridlocked as local press reports quoted union organisers promising to gather &ldquo;10,000 cabbies&ldquo; at the transport commissioner&rsquo;s office to &ldquo;demand a total ban on Uber and Ola cabs in Mumbai&ldquo;.

MUMBAI: The Nitesh Rane union will take a morcha of taxi drivers to the transport commissioner’s office on Tuesday morning and this may lead to shortage of cabs outside stations.“We are planning to take a morcha of 10,000 cabbies to transport chief Sonia Sethi’s office,” claimed K K Tiwari, leader of the Rane-backed Swabhiman Sanghatana. “We will demand a total ban on Uber and Ola cabs in Mumbai and will start a taxi and auto strike if our demands are not met till 5 pm.” The stir will begin at 10 am from Bandra East.Sethi, on her part, has sent a proposal to the government for a ‘uniform taxi scheme’ which will allow a level playing field between kaali peeli unions, fleetcab and aggregators. She said that though peaceful forms of protest are acceptable, disrupting public services will be dealt with firmly.Reacting to the protest, Uber general manager Shailesh Sawlani told TOI, “Uber will take off surge pricing on Tuesday as there is a likely shortage of regular cabs on the day. We are committed to keeping Mumbai moving no matter what.”Meanwhile, the biggest taxi union in the city, Mumbai Taximen’s Union, led by A L Quadros has called the agitation a “political stunt” and claimed that the stir would not have any major impact. Quadros, for his part, has petitioned the transport ministry, demanding relaxation on the freeze on permits for black-and-yellow taxis in place since 1997. “Because of the freeze on permits there has been a shortage of cabs, and new operators like Ola and Uber took advantage,” he stated.