App-based transport workers call for all-India strike on Feb 7, 2026

App-based transport unions TGPWU and IFAT have called for a nationwide protest on Feb 7, 2026. Drivers for Ola, Uber, and others are protesting falling incomes and the government's failure to set minimum fares under the 2025 aggregator guidelines.

Gig Workers Announce Nationwide Strike Over Declining Earnings

App-based transport workers affiliated with the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU) and the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT) have announced an All-India Breakdown on February 7, 2026, protesting falling incomes and increasing exploitation in the platform transport sector. The nationwide protest will involve drivers and delivery workers associated with major platforms, including Ola, Uber, Rapido, Porter, and other app-based transport services.

According to the unions, the agitation is being organised against the continued failure of the Central and State Governments to notify minimum base fares under the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2025. Despite the existence of these guidelines, aggregator companies continue to unilaterally fix fares, pushing workers into unsustainable working conditions and forcing longer working hours for declining earnings.

Shaik Salauddin, Founder President of TGPWU and Co-Founder and National General Secretary of IFAT, said that the absence of government-notified base fares has allowed platform companies to arbitrarily lower prices while transferring all operational risks to workers. "The Aggregator Guidelines, 2025, clearly mandate consultation with recognised worker unions before fare fixation. However, governments have failed to act, enabling platforms to deepen exploitation," Salauddin said.

Past Agitations Highlight Ongoing Issues

Earlier, in a similar incident, platform-based delivery workers affiliated with the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT) staged a nationwide strike on 31 December 31st 2026, protesting unfair working conditions, low wages, and the absence of social security, warning that delivery services may be severely disrupted during peak hours.

Widespread Exploitation in the Gig Economy

According to food delivery agents, despite spending long hours on the road, their income has reduced significantly, leaving them financially strained.

"In today's time, Swiggy Zomato delivery boys, Blinkit Zepto riders, Ola Uber drivers, are a workforce on the back of which these big companies have become unicorns; they have got billion-dollar valuations. In this entire ecosystem that has been created, if there's one group of people who are oppressed and under immense pressure, it's the gig workers," the AAP MP said during an exclusive interview with ANI. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)