Commuters in Mumbai have been hit hard due to a strike by Ola and Uber drivers demanding a base fare of Rs 100. The ‘Go Offline’ call originally started in Delhi and NCR, but began affecting Mumbaikars from Monday after many city drivers who had joined the protest forced fellow drivers to toe their line.

While drivers refused to speak on record, they said that the base rate, which is Rs 30-35 with an addition for subsequent kms, should be hiked to Rs 100. “The diesel rate, our vehicle loans and other expenses leave us with nothing much in hand. How do we run our families then? The pandemic and lockdown have already caused a major slide in the business. Serious thoughts should be given to this. Our attempts to take it up with the company have not borne fruit,” said a driver partner of a ride-hailing company.