Hyderabad: Taxi drivers turn to other means to eke out living

Hyderabad: The current pandemic has affected all sections of society, mostly the poor and daily wagers. Most of taxi drivers are finding it difficult to make both ends meet even after the partial lifting of the lockdown.

On one hand, taxi drivers are struggling to get customers and on the other, the rise in fuel prices has dealt a big blow to them. Unable to continue their profession, a few have already started looking out for alternative sources of income. In the process, some zeroed in on vegetables sales.

Shaik Salauddin, the chairman of Telangana state Taxi and Drivers JAC, an umbrella body of several Ola and Uber unions across the Telangana, said the rise in the price of diesel has hit drivers hard, who are among the worst-hit by the lockdown, and they are struggling to make ends meet.

The skyrocketing price of diesel has dealt a severe blow to the already-hurt Ola and Uber drivers in Hyderabad. The diesel rate in the city is Rs 75.91 per litre. It has gone up by Rs 7.40 over the last 11 days. Add to this, there is hardly any business with most getting an average of two to three rides per day.

Even from whatever the orders they get and earn, aggregators are cutting their usual 20 per cent as commission. And the meagre incomes are not sufficient to sustain their families. In such a difficult time, shouldn't the companies reduce their commission so that drivers get a little more, Salauddin asked.