Pandemic knocks many cab drivers out of business in Hyderabad

Hyderabad, Oct 7 The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted all the sectors but some have been badly affected than the others. Those depending on day to day earnings for their livelihood have been the worst affected.

The pandemic has thrown a large number of cab drivers out of job. With meagre income for nearly seven months, its hand-to-mouth existence for hundreds of cab drivers in this tech hub.

As almost all the Information Technology companies still operating in work-from-home mode, 30,000 cabs hired by these companies have gone off the roads, rendering the drivers jobless.

Hiring of vehicles by dozens of IT companies in this bustling city was the main source of income for many travel operators and source of livelihood for the drivers.

Even those cab drivers who own the vehicles are struggling to survive. Their income has come down to one-third of what it used to be in pre-Covid days.

Though the number of daily Covid cases has come down significantly during the last couple of months, the drivers feel that there is not much improvement on the ground.

Tourism was another major sector providing revenues to travel operators and the cab drivers. With this sector taking a severe beating due to the pandemic, they are facing a really tough time.

For three months, almost all the cabs were off the roads during total lockdown and subsequently when there was partial relaxation.

When the cabs returned, there were hardly any passengers. The Covid-19 scare kept people away from the cabs.

Though restrictions in many sectors have been lifted over the last four months, the economic activity is yet to be restored to pre-Covid level.

Cab drivers used to make 10-15 trips every day, ferrying passengers to and from offices, airport, railway stations, buses, markets, tourist spots, hospitals and places on the outskirts.

Hyderabad has an estimated 1.2 lakh cabs apart from 30,000 cabs hired by IT/ITES companies.

"The lockdown may have been technically lifted but for cab drivers the lockdown is still continuing," Shaikh Salahuddin, general secretary, Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers

( With inputs from IANS )