Upset, angry and hurt over the treatment by ‘foreign’ companies, drivers of Uber and Ola have declared that enough is enough. They wish to launch their own app for accepting taxi bookings, and as per latest report, the ‘development’ of their own app is currently underway, and surprisingly, they will launch their app in a month’s time.
A new union of such drivers from Uber, Ola and TaxiForSure has been created, and the leaders of this union are all set to challenge established taxi-apps for their business. Interestingly, TaxiForSure was shut down by Ola last year, as 1000 employees were abruptly fired.
Nevertheless, the Union exists, and they are now aggressively pursuing to end the monopoly of Uber and Ola in this niche.
And, they have some political backing as well, atleast in Karnataka.
Tanveer Pasha, president of Uber, TaxiForSure and Ola Drivers and Owners Association, said, ‘We were to start discussing the logistics of the app with JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy during the protest at Freedom Park but he could not come due to health concerns. Nevertheless, he has promised his support,”
As per Pasha, around 8000 drivers have pledged their support for the creation of this app, and they are right now working out the details of ‘office space’ and ‘customer care’ for the same.
Explaining the reason behind the very idea of creating their own app, and directly competing against Uber and Ola, for whom they currently, work, Pasha said, “He was upset by the way foreign companies are treating us. “He (JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy) has promised to help us meet software engineers for technical assistance as well as support us monetarily,”
If we believe Pasha’s claims, then around 50% of drivers from his Union has refused to login to the app from Uber and Ola, and the rest 50% who are actually logging in, are stuck with financial liabilities, and they are compelled to use the app for paying installments.
Is The Idea Feasible?
If you want my personal opinion, then I will say no. A big no, because drivers and their Unions are not tech entrepreneurs. They are experts in driving vehicles, and right now, they are pissed off due to broken promises by Uber and Ola. And, using their emotional vulnerabilities, political parties are exploiting them and using them for their own agenda.
As we witnessed by the statements, a prominent political party is supporting the creation of an app, which is doomed to failure from day one. Besides deriving political mileage, this app will achieve very little.
And this is not the first instance. Last year, backed by Communist party, local drivers from Uber and Ola in Kerala too had announced the launch of their own app for taking bookings. But besides forming a good headline and some water-cooler gossips, the idea and the declaration didn’t go any further.
And, in Mumbai, Kaali-Peeli taxi drivers too had announced the launch of their own app for taking bookings directly from the customers. Again, we didn’t hear much from them since then.
On a tactical level, such announcements can be made to artificially induce some pressure on Uber and Ola, something which can work short-term. But in the longer run, this doesn’t make sense.
What should the drivers do to end the monopoly of Uber and Ola in taxi-based cab bookings niche? Will their own apps make any difference or they need a new business model to survive? Do let us know by commenting right here!
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