Uber drivers call off stir after talks with MNS transport wing

Mumbai: Uber drivers on Thursday called off their four-day strike, the transport wing of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which spearheaded the stir, said.

A similar strike by drivers of Ola was called off on Wednesday.

Claiming “victory” for the “owner-operators” of Uber cabs in Mumbai and other places, the MNS, in a statement in Mumbai on Thursday evening, said the Uber management, during their talks with the police and the wing’s representatives earlier in the day, has given a written commitment on meeting the various demands.

These include a relook at drivers blacklisted by the taxi aggregator and putting up stickers in Marathi on Uber cabs, the statement said.

An Uber spokesperson, in a separate statement, confirmed that the strike had been called off with immediate effect. MNS transport wing president Sanjay Naik told PTI, “Like Ola, Uber has also assured us that the company will look into ways to increase earnings of the Uber driver-partners”.

On 19 March, drivers of Uber and Ola went on an indefinite strike to protest “low profit margins”. It is estimated that over 45,000 app-based cabs operate in the financial capital alone.