Sanjay Harilal Yadav, 29, quit his job as a portfolio manager in a fund house to join Ola as a driver in late 2015. Nearly two years later he regrets his move.

“I had heard of drivers making ₹1 lakh per month. But now drivers don’t make that kind of money any more. The incentives have reduced to almost half. Besides, the commission, which we have to pay the company is high,” says Yadav who has started freelancing as an investment advisor to make additional money.

Shadab, a driver with Uber, bought a two-bedroom apartment in Mumbai’s Chembur area in about a year of riding Uber. But now he is not making enough money to pay off the loan he took for the home.

Yadav and Shadab are just two examples of hundreds of drivers whose dreams of making it big with cab aggregator firms like Ola and Uber have gone sour.

The drivers’ earnings have come down significantly due to lower incentives, higher penalties and commissions. The increase in the number of cars in the network has also affected the income. “I used to get over 10-12 bookings a day and make about ₹100-500 extra per ride till about six months ago. Now the number of rides I get have gone down by 50 per cent,” says Taufique Khan, an Ola driver in Mumbai.

This point was reiterated by several other drivers.

Most of the drivers are stuck as they have bought cars on loan but are not getting enough rides to pay the monthly instalments.

According to sources in the taxi and cab unions, Ola and Uber drivers are planning to switch off their app if the cab hailing start-ups do not accede to their demands of better incentives.

“Not only the incentives have come down drastically, but also the penalty amount has gone up.

“We now have to pay about ₹500 as penalty for cancelling a ride,” said Balu Gaḍe, a driver with Ola in Puṇe.

While Uber declined to comment, Ola, in a statement, said, “We have a robust partner support system for all driver-partners registered with us. Any concern brought to the notice of our 24x7 partner care helpline or at the walk-in centre is instantly addressed and resolved.

“We are committed to helping driver-partners grow as entrepreneurs on the Ola platform.”

According to analysts, the decline in incentives could be a sign of funds drying up.

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