As of September last year, 30,000-35,000 vehicles from Ride-hailing giants Ola and Uber were missing. The main reason for this was the failure of drivers to pay their monthly installments for cars purchased on car loans.
Drivers Can’t Pay Off Loans
During the major collapse of transportation services, drivers have seen declining incomes and as a result are no longer able to pay for EMIs in funded vehicles.
According to one second-hand car dealer, 30,000-35,000 cabs both in Ola and Uber have been confiscated by banks and NBFCs after drivers failed to borrow money for cars. Automatically increased in value after the suspension of the loan suspension imposed by the RBI in September 2020. A source has asked for anonymity as they are not allowed to disclose details of the arrested vehicles.
Two sources of taxi drivers’ unions told Inc42 that at least 30K vehicles had been seized by investors in the last 6-7 months. Up to 30% of these brands are meant to work with both Ola and Uber at the same time, as people within the industry.
Tanveer Pasha, president of the Ola, TaxiForSure and Uber (OTU) Union of Drivers ’Union in Bengaluru, said about 25,000 vehicles of both Ola and Uber in Karnataka purchased with bank and NBFC funds were seized.
Shaik Salauddin, national secretary of the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT), added that more than 6,000 kilometers of Telangana had been seized by financial authorities in the last six to six months for non-payment of monthly installments.
The people who work with Gig Hit Badly
The ongoing health crisis in India has taken a heavy toll on the economy, especially for the gig workers who work with Ola and Uber. While most gig operators in other fields such as ecommerce delivery, food delivery, hyperlocal delivery get a job during the closure, the same cannot be said of passenger rides. The drivers working with Uber and Ola are very controversial.
Salauddin says about 497 Ola and Uber drivers in India have been tested with Covid, and that about 5 drivers have lost their lives so far, according to IFAT figures.
According to a recent Redseer report, although application-based taxi fares dropped in March 2021 just after a slight recovery from August last year. Roadblocks are expected in the next few months, as residents continue to live in houses in the worst-affected provinces such as Mahrahstra, Delhi, UP, Karnataka, and others, where the use of app-based cabs is very high.
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