Cabs go off roads from tonight

Cabs go off roads from tonight
Mini Joseph Tejaswi | TNN

Bangalore: Brace for transport trouble — all the city’s cabs will be on an indefinite strike from Sunday midnight. Drivers operating to IT companies and airports will stay away from work. Radio taxis, city taxis, luxury cabs will also stay off roads. They are protesting against long work hours, low wages and poor work conditions. Over five lakh IT/BPO workers use over 50,000 cabs a day. Tech/BPO firms say they have drawn up alternative plans to minimise manhour losses.
Nandunja Swamy, president of Karnataka State Cab Drivers’ Centre, justified the strike: “For almost 15 to 20 hours of work, drivers get paid only Rs 3,500 to Rs 4,200 a month. It has to be hiked to Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000. They are denied facilities like toilets. We want drivers to be brought under the purview of the labour law.”
Car-owning drivers are paid only Rs 5.5 per km by contracting agents, while they are paid Rs 12 a km by IT/BPO firms. “Cab operations is a Rs 350-crore business a month in the city, a major chunk of it is eaten by the middlemen,’’ said Swamy.
S Ramanna, president, Cab Association, said: “Drivers should get insurance in case of accidents. No restroom or refreshment is given to them.”
Many IT firms have put in alternative arrangements. Infosys Technologies has asked for 50 additional BMTC buses and advised staff to make use of public transport and car pool. Many others are expected to stay on the campus. The company gives allowance to employees who find accommodation within 3 km of the office and this has encouraged 20% of its employees to avail of this facility.
“Strikes and disruptions like this will only compel the industry to incentivise their people to stay close to workplaces to minimise the dependence on third-party transport service providers,’’ said Mohandas Pai, head, HR, Infosys Technologies. Pradeep Narayanan, chief infrastructure officer, 24/7 Customer, said, “We have asked our employees to carpool and stay overnight in office. We will provide them bed, bath and food facilities.’’
Wipro said the strike may not impact it as Wipro does not have BPO operations in the city. “Techies will come by our buses or on their own. Our cab use is very minimal,’’ said a company spokesperson. Perot Systems has called in additional transport, said its head of communication Manish Jain.
STEERING THEIR DEMANDS
Better salary, increase average salary
Better work hours, preferably fixed work hours
Access to restrooms
Access to good refreshments (Additional reporting by Manali Kishore and Arpita Ashish)