Uber in trouble: Politically motivated groups threaten to shut service in Mumbai

A few politically motivated groups, including the Mumbai Autorickshaw-Taximen’s Union (MAU), have publicly threatened to shut down ridesharing services in the cities of Mumbai and Pune, according to a statement by Uber. The groups have resorted to violence; assaulting drivers, damaging cars, and stealing equipment.

Thousands of drivers have fled the roads in fear.

In the past, MAU went on a day-long strike demanding the ouster of taxi aggregator services such as Uber and Ola. However, this has now taken a violent turn.

“We were shocked when one of our partners sent us pictures of vandalized cars yesterday. This is only one example from a series of attacks on our driver-partners,” the statement said.

Uber driver partner’s car vandalized

The group’s campaign is aimed at pressurizing the government to pass laws which would restrict the growth of the taxi startup industry in the state of Maharashtra, which includes Mumbai, Pune, and other large cities.

The group has proposed a restriction on fares for the startups; which would effectively result in a price ceiling intended to protect conventional taxis from competition.

There is also pressure to enforce a rule that would allow the issuance of a public service vehicle badge to only those applicants who have lived in the state of Maharashtra for more than 15 years and can read and write in the regional language Marathi.

Uber says its service will be adversely affected if these laws are implemented. It will become less reliable and more expensive to provide on-demand taxis as a resulting shortage of cars would hit them hard.

Interestingly, unlike Uber, rival service Ola aggregates kaali peeli (black and yellow) taxis in Mumbai as well. It remains to be seen whether they’re feeling the heat too. Tech in Asia has reached out to Ola for comment and will update the article accordingly.