Hundreds of cab drivers employed with the internet-based taxi firm Uber on Friday morning staged a protest at Jantar Mantar demanding revocation of the ban imposed on the company’s operations in the Capital.
According to the protesters, their livelihood was affected because of the ban imposed on the company following the alleged rape of a 27-year-old woman by one of its drivers. Ranjit Ray, who has been working with the company since its launch in Delhi, said that Uber’s operations were transparent and it also helped many of the drivers get finance from banks to buy their own cars, thereby reducing the scope of their exploitation. “Uber helped me get a loan and I bought my own car two months back. It made me independent. The company has always thought about the welfare of its drivers unlike others. We were driving taxis for the past so many years. Just because one person has done wrong, it is not justified that we all suffer and our only source of livelihood is taken away,” said Ray.
Naresh Mehta, who also worked for the company said the accused driver had an All-India Tourist Permit. “To get the permit, an applicant needs a driver’s badge, issued by the State Government after a background check for criminal history. How could the case of rape filed against him go unnoticed during the verification by the State GovernmentIJ Is it (Government) not at fault tooIJ” he asked.
“I have a daughter and we know what the victim and her family are going through. Shiv Kumar Yadav should be punished. But then, we want that all the formalities and checking required for the company’s registration should be carried out so that it can operate in the city,” he added.
Another driver employed with the company said, “Yadav’s permit was based on forged documents, which clearly indicate the malpractices prevalent in the Government departments as well.