There was a ruckus in Indore, Madhya Pradesh on Monday when hundreds of auto rickshaw drivers opened a front against online taxi companies. The drivers surrounded Rapido's office located near C-21 Mall and locked it. They allege that companies like Rapido, Ola and Uber are not only misleading customers by charging arbitrary fares, but are also violating permit conditions. Indore Auto Rickshaw Drivers Federation founder president Rajesh Birkar, Nilesh Suryavanshi and Rohit Budania said in a press release that the meter fare fixed by the Transport Department of ₹ 20 for the first kilometer and ₹ 17 per kilometer thereafter is not being followed by these online companies. Due to this, about 20,000 auto drivers of the city are facing financial losses daily.

Illegal bike taxi operations also under question
The Auto-Rickshaw Drivers Federation alleged that these companies are also running taxi services on two-wheelers without any valid trade license, in which many times drivers with criminal tendencies carry women passengers and students without police verification. This has posed a serious threat to the safety of women. According to the Federation, these companies are using domestic bikes as commercial vehicles, which is not only a violation of rules, but in case of an accident, the passenger also does not get insurance claim.