Hundreds of commuters were left in the lurch today, after more than 30,000 online app cabs and luxury taxis stayed off the roads, during a 48-hour strike called by the members of West Bengal online cab operators’ guild (WBOCOG) and an organisation of luxury taxis, rendering services to government offices in the state.

Although the state transport department made arrangements for additional bus services to ease out the effects of the strike, several commuters had to face difficulties due to the unavailability of the services that they got with the click of a button till yesterday. The day turned out to be harrowing for a large number of passengers arriving at the city airport and railway stations. While the members of the WBOCOG claimed to have extended their help to some of the passengers in getting a cab or a taxi, a large number of other commuters remained stranded at Howrah and Sealdah stations before being able to get some means of conveyance for their destinations.

The strike, however, came as a nightmare for the city residents, particularly patients and office goers. “My mother had a fasting blood-test early this morning and we were totally dependent on the cab to take her to the doctor,” said a commuter who is a regular user of the two online app cab services in the city. “I was about to miss my office as buses were too overcrowded,” he added.

Another commuter rued, “The app-based cabs are increasing their charges daily. Sometimes a ride of Rs 150 is increased to more than Rs 200. As many commuters rely on app-cabs totally, a strike like this has caused huge problem for such people. “

As most of the drivers of the two giant aggregators ceased work today, some of them made it a point that their fellow drivers did not render services during the strike. A woman passenger, who was able get a cab to Dum Dum after several rounds of cancellations, was allegedly forced to come out of the car by a group of app cab drivers at Esplanade. The drivers forced the fellow cab driver to stop plying and also broke the glass of the window.

While the officers of Lal Bazar claimed to have arrested 12 online app cab agitating drivers from various parts of the city, senior members of WBOCOG denied any member drivers being involved in the matter.

As informed by Indranil Banerjee of WBOCOG, the authorities of one of the aggregating companies have responded to their call by asking the members of the organisation for a meeting on a date to be decided by the members of the protesting group. The other aggregator, however, against the head office at Mumbai, as alleged by Indranil, are as passive as before.

Meanwhile, in a communication with The Statesman, the spokesperson of the aggregating company from Mumbai wrote, “We regret the disruption caused to the rider and driver-partner community, due to a small group of individuals. We remain committed to serving the city and ensuring that our driver partners continue to access a stable income, while giving riders a convenient, reliable option to get around Kolkata.”