Gig workers protest in Delhi, demand minimum fares, rule withdrawal.

App-based transport workers protested at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, demanding the government withdraw guidelines allowing private vehicles for commercial use and to notify minimum base fares, taking fare-setting power away from aggregator companies.

App-based transport workers held a protest at Jantar Mantar on Saturday as gig unions called for an all-India breakdown. Telangana GIG and Platform Workers Union's Founder President, Shaik Salauddin, said that the union has written to Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, raising two key demands: withdraw the guidelines allowing private vehicles to be used for commercial purposes, and notify minimum base fares.

Union Outlines Two Major Demands

Salauddin told ANI, "We have two major demands from the Ministry of Transport and Nitin Gadkari. The Motor Vehicle Aggregator guidelines, 2025 state that you can drive non-commercial vehicles for platform companies. We are the taxpayers, but there is no exemption for us. We are demanding that the central government withdraw this and that state governments not implement it."

He added that there was no response to their letter from Union Minister Gadkari. "Second demand pan India is that platform companies can decide the fares. This is unjust. Governments should decide fares for their states. This creates transparency and accountability. We have already written a letter to Nitin Gadkari and the Ministry of Transport. There was no response," he said.

Sharing a copy of the letter on X on February 2, Telangana GIG and Platform Workers Union wrote, "Hon'ble Nitin Gadkari ji, @MORTHIndia Ponnam Prabhakar, App-based drivers and riders across India demand government-notified minimum base fares for Ola, Uber, Rapido, Porter, and other aggregators, as mandated under Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2025," the X post read.

Nationwide Protest Threatened

Sumer Ambawata of the National Driver Morcha Samiti warned of a massive nationwide protest on March 22 and 23 if their demands are not fulfilled. "All drivers are fighting for the fares today. We oppose the government's policies. If the government does not listen to us, we will hold a big nationwide protest on March 22 and 23. Almost 6300 organisations in the country will take part in it. We want the government to include union leaders representing drivers in policy development. The government has given platform apps the authority to lower our fares by up upto 50 per cent," Sumer Ambawata said.

Protest in Telangana

Meanwhile, gig workers also staged a protest at Mallapur in Nacharam in Telangana's Medchal-Malkajgiri district. (ANI)

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