Delhi: Ride-hailing app-based transport workers protest at Jantar Mantar, seek minimum base fares

New Delhi [India], February 7 (ANI): Ride-hailing app-based transport workers held a protest at Jantar Mantar on Saturday as gig worker unions called for an all-India breakdown, demanding government intervention to fix minimum base fares and roll back certain policy guidelines.
During the protest, Telangana GIG and Platform Workers Union Founder President Shaik Salauddin said the union had written to Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari with two key demands. These include the withdrawal of guidelines that allow private vehicles to be used for commercial purposes and the notification of minimum base fares for app-based transport services.
Speaking to ANI, Salauddin said, "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 the union had not received any response to its letter from the Union Minister.
"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," Salauddin said.
On February 2, the Telangana GIG and Platform Workers Union shared a copy of the letter on X. The post read, "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."
National Driver Morcha Samiti member Sumer Ambawata warned of a nationwide protest later this month if the demands are not addressed.
"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 6,300 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 to 50 per cent," Ambawata told ANI.
Meanwhile, gig workers also staged a protest at Mallapur in Nacharam in Telangana's Medchal-Malkajgiri district in support of the demands. (ANI)