Workers' calls for governmental regulation on minimum wages and social security provisions for drivers continue to be sidestepped by Ola, Uber and other taxi aggregators.
Based on the interviews of metered taximen and aggregator drivers, news reports, and a review of aggregators’ operations in different countries, the many violations by the aggregator companies are brought forth. By reviewing the ground realities with regard to the companies’ blogs, their promises, and six different policy drafts aimed at regulating Uber and Ola, the need to see beyond and question the discourse of scientific rationality that frames their operations is highlighted.
The article “Tech in Work: Organising Informal Work in India” (EPW, 20 May 2017) by Aditi Surie fails to critically examine the tall claims made by platform economy companies like Uber and Ola. A field study in Mumbai points towards the increasing precarity for drivers therein, in stark contrast to the claims of these companies of “formalising the taxi system,” instituting transparency and regulation, and creating the new category of “driver–entrepreneur.”
