Cab woes persist at Bengaluru airport

Despite the enforcement of the new pick-up rules at both terminals of the Kempegowda International Airport in December, flyers remain frustrated due to the lack of availability of cabs on the premises.

Passengers were left helpless as there was a severe shortage of cabs on Monday evening. According to airport sources, the average footfall at the airport has increased by 10,000 over the past few days, with the daily footfall currently averaging 1,30,000. The increase can be attributed to holidayers returning home after a year-end break.

Shashikanth, a flyer returning from Delhi, had to wait for 40 to 50 minutes before being assigned a cab by Ola. “The staff on the ground kept approaching passengers and issuing OTPs, but the reality was that there were few budget options available. When we questioned the staff, they gave us generic responses,” he told Metrolife. However, as per an airport representative, the wait time for cabs averaged at 20 minutes on Monday.

Flyers also questioned Bengaluru International Airport’s intent behind bringing in the new pickup rules. “The whole point of the new pickup rules was supposedly to make the overall experience smoother for us passengers, but what has transpired is the exact opposite. After an unsuccessful attempt to hail a cab from either Ola or Uber which were only promoting more expensive options, I decided to walk to P4 and book a cab from other aggregator platforms. I was also hopeful that there would be cab drivers already waiting at P4, and I’d hail one of those cabs, but that wasn’t the case,” shared Nabeela Sheikh, who was able to hail a cab only an hour after exiting the airport.

Passengers also shared similar experiences on the social media platform X, with both Ola and Uber, which are among KIA’s eight authorised cab options. KSTDC, QuickRide, Mega Cabs, WTI Cabs and OHM Mobility are among the other cab options available on the ground.

Murari Thakur took to X to report that the Uber staff had forced him to cancel his Sedan booking. He claimed that only Uber XL was available, at more than double the original fare.

Political pressure

Accompanied by cab drivers, MP K Sudhakar paid a visit to BIAL’s office on Tuesday to discuss the pickup rules and the overstay charges. Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy is also set to pay a visit today, on January 7.

“Some BIAL officials had come to meet me regarding the recently enforced rules that are negatively impacting the livelihood of thousands of cab drivers. On Wednesday, I will be inspecting to see what the situation is like in reality,” he told Metrolife. The minister is likely to be accompanied by thousands of cab drivers.