Ola, Uber drivers' hunger strike loses steam

Drivers associated with Ola and Uber called off their hunger protest on Thursday even as their strike seemed to have ended with nearly 10,000 taxis logging in to work with the app-based aggregators.

“Freedom Park has been provided to farmers and Karnataka Rakshana Vedike for the next two days. At the same time, (former chief minister) H D Kumaraswamy who is supporting our cause, has said he can’t join us till Sunday due to health-related problems. So, we decided to call of the protest,” said the leader of a drivers’ union. They said the strike will continue but added that they have told the drivers to work if they have financial constraints. “Some drivers wanted to continue the strike and some others said they can’t go on as they have to pay EMIs for car loans besides other financial commitments. So, we decided that the strike will be completely voluntary,” one leader said.

Drivers came back to Ola and Uber in big numbers with each company seeing more than 5,000 taxis on its platform.

The leaders said they will restart the protest from Sunday. “Kumaraswamy has assured us that he will join us on Sunday. The strike will also be total,” they said.

There was a celebrity touch to Thursday’s protest with ‘Kirik’ Keerthi, a popular actor, taking up the drivers’ cause. “The companies provided lot of incentives in the beginning. Now, they are ignoring the drivers’ demand for rationalisation of pay model. They should consider drivers’ demands immediately,” he said.