Ola, Uber and other app-based transport drivers’ strike: What are their demands and why are they protesting?

App-based transport workers, including drivers and delivery workers associated with major platforms such as Ola, Uber, Rapido, Porter, and other app-based transport services, announced an all-India strike on Saturday (February 7, 2026) to protest falling incomes and increasing exploitation in the platform transport sector. The transport workers also raised their demand for immediate redress regarding panic button installations in the applications. The strike is likely to impact lakhs of commuters in Tier-1, Tier-2, and metro cities across the country.

Who is leading the strike?

The protest call was given by Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU) and Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT), involving thousands of drivers employed in cab-hailing and quick-delivery platforms.

Speaking to PTI, Keshav Kshirsagar, head of Maharashtra Kamgar Sabha, said the strike began across Maharashtra and other parts of the country in the morning. Most autorickshaw and taxi drivers have supported the strike, Mr. Kshirsagar said.

Karnataka App-based Workers Union (KAWU), which too announced its participation in the All-India strike, had written to Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and State Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy to immediately notify minimum base fares for app-based transport services, and to prohibit usage of non-commercial vehicles for commercial transport. “Without regulated base fares for transport services, aggregator companies can unilaterally set fare prices, and riders and drivers are left in precarious, unstable, and exploitative working conditions. This includes, but is not limited to, workers on platforms such as Ola, Uber, Porter, and Rapido,” the union’s letter notes.

What are the demands?

President of TGPWU and co-founder national general secretary of IFAT Shaik Salauddin said the protest is to demand Central and State Government-notified minimum base fares for Ola, Uber, Rapido and other aggregators such as autos, cabs and bike taxis-set with driver unions. This is pushing millions of app-based drivers into poverty while aggregators continue to draw the profit.

Addressing a letter to Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, IFAT and TGPWU pressed the demand for government-notified minimum base fares for app-based transport services. “In the absence of government-regulated fare structures, aggregator companies continue to unilaterally fix fares, leading to severe income security, exploitation, and unsuitable working conditions for millions of transport workers. The Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2025, clearly mandate regulatory oversight, fare transparency, and protection of driver livelihoods, which must be effectively implemented through enforceable Central and State-level notifications,” the letter noted.

Mr. Salauddin said, despite implementation of Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2025, platforms continue to fix prices arbitrarily. “Therefore, we press two demands before State and Central Governments. This includes notification of minimum base fares and end of private vehicles for commercial rides,” he added.

“We have a list of demands that we want to submit to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. There should be a Rashtriya Chalak Ayog for the welfare of drivers, private bike taxis should be banned immediately across the country, and surge pricing on app-based platforms should be addressed, as the drivers do not get any benefit out of it, but people think drivers are making money,” said Kishan Verma, president of All Delhi Auto Taxi Congress Union.

Strike’s impact

Although the union claimed that drivers have kept their vehicles off the roads, taxis and autorickshaws have been available in Maharashtra for booking on app-based platforms of major companies, including Uber, Ola and Rapido, since the early hours of the day.

The Maharashtra Kamgar Sabha had earlier said that the strike was aimed at opposing the "arbitrary" fare policies of ride aggregators, seeking strict enforcement against "illegal" bike taxi operations that were affecting the livelihoods of licensed cab and autorickshaw drivers.

Similarly, in Delhi, a delegation of transport and delivery gig workers met the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to discuss the need for legislation from the Centre and implementations of regulations in Congress-ruled States.

"While there are 140 panic button device providers approved by the Central Government, the State Government has declared nearly 70% of these companies unauthorised. As a result, cab drivers are being forced to remove previously installed devices and spend approximately ₹12,000 unnecessarily to install new devices, causing severe financial hardship," the statement said.

The drivers' body also raised concerns over loss of income due to an increase in the number of autorickshaws under the open permit policy, and also alleged that victims of accidents involving illegal bike taxis are denied insurance benefits.