<p>Three weeks after the state government hiked the fares for cabs attached to online aggregators, drivers say their earnings haven't improved much. </p>.<p>On April 1, the Transport Department hiked the fares by 90% for cabs attached to Ola and Uber. The revision, due for more than a year, had come after a taxi driver distressed by low earnings reportedly killed himself at the Kempegowda International Airport. </p>.<p>Taxi drivers' associations had appealed to the government to consider the rising prices of petrol and diesel to introduce a model whereby they can share revenue with cab aggregators. The government, however, limited itself to the fare revision. </p>.<p>It divided the cabs into four categories based on the price of the car. The base or minimum price (for the first four kilometres) was fixed at Rs 44. A bandwidth of minimum and maximum fares for every subsequent kilometre was fixed at between Rs 11 and 36. </p>.<p>But cab drivers say the fare revision hasn't quite translated into the real world. </p>.<p>Abhishek D, an Uber driver, says he's effectively earning just Rs 4 more per kilometre. While the final bill shows Rs 18.90/km, Abhishek says he gets only Rs 14/km. Before the hike, his take-home earning per kilometre was Rs 10. "It's nowhere near to meeting my daily needs but I’m happy that I am earning Rs 4 more, which reduces the need to borrow money,” he explains. </p>.<p>Tanveer Pasha, the president of Ola, Taxi for Sure and Uber Drivers' and Owners' Association, said the cab aggregators' failure to implement the hike, coupled with rising Covid-19 cases, was pushing the drivers to the breaking point. </p>.<p>According to him, the aggregators did raise the fare up to Rs 18/km for a few days before bringing it down to Rs 10-12. "The low earnings and Covid have hit us hard. The average daily bookings have halved because of the second wave," he said. "We had requested the government to fix a minimum earning per kilometre to ensure the drivers' earnings are higher than the operating cost. But that was not considered.” </p>.<p>The Transport Department has issued a show-cause notice to Ola after a driver filed a complaint along with the receipts regarding the mismatch, an official said and promised to serve notices on other aggregators in case of complaints. The aggregators could face disciplinary action. </p>
<p>Three weeks after the state government hiked the fares for cabs attached to online aggregators, drivers say their earnings haven't improved much. </p>.<p>On April 1, the Transport Department hiked the fares by 90% for cabs attached to Ola and Uber. The revision, due for more than a year, had come after a taxi driver distressed by low earnings reportedly killed himself at the Kempegowda International Airport. </p>.<p>Taxi drivers' associations had appealed to the government to consider the rising prices of petrol and diesel to introduce a model whereby they can share revenue with cab aggregators. The government, however, limited itself to the fare revision. </p>.<p>It divided the cabs into four categories based on the price of the car. The base or minimum price (for the first four kilometres) was fixed at Rs 44. A bandwidth of minimum and maximum fares for every subsequent kilometre was fixed at between Rs 11 and 36. </p>.<p>But cab drivers say the fare revision hasn't quite translated into the real world. </p>.<p>Abhishek D, an Uber driver, says he's effectively earning just Rs 4 more per kilometre. While the final bill shows Rs 18.90/km, Abhishek says he gets only Rs 14/km. Before the hike, his take-home earning per kilometre was Rs 10. "It's nowhere near to meeting my daily needs but I’m happy that I am earning Rs 4 more, which reduces the need to borrow money,” he explains. </p>.<p>Tanveer Pasha, the president of Ola, Taxi for Sure and Uber Drivers' and Owners' Association, said the cab aggregators' failure to implement the hike, coupled with rising Covid-19 cases, was pushing the drivers to the breaking point. </p>.<p>According to him, the aggregators did raise the fare up to Rs 18/km for a few days before bringing it down to Rs 10-12. "The low earnings and Covid have hit us hard. The average daily bookings have halved because of the second wave," he said. "We had requested the government to fix a minimum earning per kilometre to ensure the drivers' earnings are higher than the operating cost. But that was not considered.” </p>.<p>The Transport Department has issued a show-cause notice to Ola after a driver filed a complaint along with the receipts regarding the mismatch, an official said and promised to serve notices on other aggregators in case of complaints. The aggregators could face disciplinary action. </p>