Taxi services to Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) continued to remain disrupted on Wednesday morning as drivers of Ola, Uber, KSDTC and other airport taxi services stayed off the road after a KSDTC airport taxi driver allegedly set himself ablaze near the terminal area of the airport in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
Although the injured driver was rushed to the Victoria hospital, he succumbed to his injuries at midnight.
The deceased has been identified as 35-year old Pratap. Other airport taxi drivers have alleged that Pratap took the drastic and extreme decision due to poor financial conditions. The drivers alleged that as taxi aggregators like Uber and Ola pay drivers ₹7 to 9 per kilometre to attract customers, other taxi operators are not getting enough bookings.
Additional BMTC buses deployed
In the absence of taxi services, air-passengers arriving at or leaving from the airport in Bengaluru now have to rely on private vehicles or Vayu Varja Services of Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) to reach the airport.
A senior official of the BMTC said that additional buses have been deployed to facilitate travelers. “After taxi drivers stopped their services, we deployed 15 additional AC buses on the airport route. A total of 85 buses are running between the city and the airport. Depending on the demand, we will run more buses”, he said.
The Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) too, in an advisory to air passengers issued on Twitter, has asked passengers to use BMTC buses to travel. Frustrated by non-availability of taxi services, air-passengers took to social media and demanded that BMTC run buses with more frequency.
Former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy demanded that the State government intervene and end the price war among the taxi aggregators.
“The KSDTC is following taxi fare fixed by the State government, that is ₹24 per kilometer, whereas taxi aggregators were offering fares of ₹9 per kilometer. This has resulted in business loss for KSDTC drivers. The State government should initiate action against taxi aggregators and come to the rescue of the taxi drivers,” Kumaraswamy said.
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