Striking cab drivers in Hyderabad, under the aegis of Telangana Cab Drivers and Owners Association (TCDOA), resumed their protest on Friday at Jubliee Hills checkpost in Hyderabad against the managements of taxi-aggregators Ola and Uber.
Alleging that they were cheated, nearly 200 drivers of the TCDOA took to the streets, begging for money from the public. The protestors were also semi-nude, to 'highlight' their situation.
“We believed the taxi aggregators' false promises and started driving the cabs. But now we are finding it hard to make ends meet,” Shiva V, president of TCDOA told Times of India.
They also said that the traffic was not disturbed, and did not cause any inconvenience to common commuters.
The protestors managed to collect Rs 450, before the police swooped in and took 35 drivers into preventive custody. However, they were released later.
Earlier the cab union conducted a five-day strike from December 30 to January 5, but failed to grab the attention of the taxi aggregators and state government.
The drivers have demanded that no new cabs be licensed until existing drivers are guaranteed a minimum of daily bookings.
The drivers have also sought protection from the company, when incidents of miscreants booking a cab, beating up the driver, and stealing the car occur.
The protesters have planned to continue their protest till 'justice' is delivered. On Saturday, they plan to protest by cooking food next to Kukatpally forum mall.
“We will beg and with the money that we earn, we will cook food. We want the public to know that working for taxi aggregators have reduced us to the state of beggars,” Shiva told The New Indian Express.