Hyderabad: The Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU) on Sunday wrote a letter to state IT Minister KT Rama Rao (KTR) requesting his intervention to improve the conditions of cab drivers in Telangana.
In a press release, TGPWU president Shaik Salauddin said that the IT,E&C industry in Hyderabad has over 5.8 lakh employees in 1,500 companies and pointed out that the sector had clocked exports of over Rs 1.28 lakh crore during 2019-2020.
“As the IT companies are still operating in work from home mode 33,000 cabs hired by these companies have gone off the roads, rendering drivers jobless. According to the cab drivers, it has become very difficult for them to feed themselves and their families,” he remarked.
The TGPWU further complained that now financiers have started putting pressure on the drivers to register the vehicle as lockdown restrictions have been lifted and added that as the lockdown has been lifted, finance companies have started pushing can drivers to pay their EMIs.
Cab drivers in have Hyderabad faced a lot of problems with regard to earning their livelihoods due to the COVID-19 lockdown, Shaik Salauddin stated in the release. The workers union demanded KTR to intervene and “immediately cease the harassment and bullying by financiers, banks, NBFCs”, to recover loan installments from them, the release added..
Further the TGPWU demanded that “illegal seizures and auction of vehicles from the cab drivers for missing even a single EMI” should be stopped and that companies should be instructed to pay the drivers. Shaik Salauddin also requested KTR to encourage the MNC’s to disburse some of the CSR funds for the welfare of the cab drivers and their families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
