On a hot sultry day, when Sohini Das, a private employee in Kolkata, boarded a cab to travel from Tangra to Sector 5, she was in for a surprise. The driver informed her that she would have to pay an extra 30% for the air conditioner to be turned on. Shocked and sweating profusely, Sohini tried to reason it out saying the rules of the cab aggregator says the price being charged is inclusive of the air conditioning charges. The driver simply responded saying, “This is the decision of our association”.
Sohini, who usually pays around Rs 180-220 for her journey says she has already been paying a higher amount than usual these days. “I am already being charged around Rs 350 for my journey that would usually cost me around Rs 180-220. Why would I agree to pay a premium fee for turning on the AC? I might as well use the yellow ambassador taxis that ply without the AC,” Sohini told TNM.
In the last few days, several photos of boards announcing an additional fee for turning on the AC inside cabs have been shared widely on social media. This has shocked netizens and many have been asking if this is even legal. Though most cases have been from Kolkata and Delhi, in Hyderabad too around 50 cabs are participating in the “pilot project” taken up by taxi associations. Drivers blame rising fuel prices for the decision to charge extra for turning on the AC during journeys.
On March 25, Aditi Singh, a journalist, took to Twitter to share her experience of an additional fee being demanded for turning on the AC in a cab.
Shocking !! Driver refused to turn on AC unless we paid extra for air conditioning. Is this something new ? Had to cancel trip after getting into the cab. @Uber @Uber_Support pic.twitter.com/l1EFgnWkf9
— Aditi Singh (@aditi2118) March 25, 2022
Hi Aditi, sorry for the hassle. Kindly share your registered contact number and email ID associated with your Uber account along with the date and time of the trip via Direct Message. We will follow up. Appreciate your understanding.
— Uber India Support (@UberINSupport) March 25, 2022
Uber, which was tagged on the post, asked Aditi to share her email id and other details and promised to follow up on the issue.
Speaking to TNM, Shaik Salauddin, National General Secretary, Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) said this model has been implemented on a pilot project basis in few states. “In Delhi, Lucknow, Kolkata and Hyderabad we have implemented this as a pilot project. We have a meeting on Monday, March 26, to decide if the taxi drivers from across states should implement this.”
“With rising fuel prices it is becoming very difficult for taxi drivers. The taxi aggregators aren’t increasing the tariff that is paid to taxi drivers. That is why we decided to charge an additional fee for using the air conditioner in the taxis,” explained Salauddin who is also the Founder State President of the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TDPWU).
According to the Telangana State Taxi & Drivers Joint Action Committee, an umbrella organisation that has taken up this campaign in Telangana, presently taxi drivers are getting only around Rs 12 on an average per km. The association says these rates haven’t been increased since 2012. “The Karnataka government has fixed the rate at Rs 18 per km for taxis and in Telangana the per km rate has been fixed at Rs 17 for prepaid taxis by the state government. The state government has released orders in this regard, but however, this has not been implemented by the cab aggregators. The price has to be increased to Rs 17-20 per km for us to be able to withstand the rising fuel expenses. This price which has been fixed needs to be implemented across all sectors like IT and also by private cab operators like Ola and Uber etc. The orders regarding the minimum price per km are only on paper and haven't been implemented anywhere as yet,” explained Salauddin. Nationally, IFAT has taken up this campaign of charging extra for AC.
In Hyderabad, only around 50 drivers have implemented the premium for air conditioning. According to the association, the pilot project is to assess the response of the passengers. In hotter places like Hyderabad and Delhi, it makes it difficult to deny AC to passengers during peak summer months. This is the reason why this has been implemented on a pilot project basis.
A poster put up inside a cab in Hyderabad
Several customers have been saying they are ready to pay higher tariffs but since the app has mentioned a price they are adamant that they will only pay as much as the app charges. “There are several customers who are empathetic to our situation. They agree to pay a premium for the AC. There are several others who don’t agree to pay too. But many say if the app shows a higher price, they are ready to pay the same,” shared Salauddin.”
The association says private taxis in Telangana do not have meters unlike taxis in several other cities. This makes the cab drivers dependent on cab aggregators for business. The association has demanded that the government implement meters in all cabs so that the minimum rates already fixed by the government can be implemented. The association believes that introducing meters in cabs will help reduce the monopoly of cab aggregators.