Electric vehicle BluSmart drivers protest in Delhi
Blusmart Electric Taxi company suddenly stopped working a few weeks ago, leaving the drivers without any jobs. So, on Sunday, these drivers, feeling lost and wanting to get paid for their work, went out to protest in New Delhi. They basically wanted BluSmart to be clear about what was happening and to give them the money they were owed.
The drivers have a couple of main things they’re asking for. First, they want to be paid an amount equal to three months of their salary as a goodbye package since they lost their jobs. Second, they want a promise that if someone buys BluSmart or anything that belongs to the company, they will keep all the current drivers employed. A group called Parivahan Morcha, along with help from the Gig Workers Association, organized this protest at a place called Jantar Mantar.
So, it looks like the BluSmart drivers are really unhappy with the company right now. Today, Sunday, May 4th, a whole bunch of them – hundreds, in fact – from all over the Delhi and surrounding areas got together to protest. This happened because BluSmart suddenly stopped running their services.
It’s surprising because many of these drivers actually thought BluSmart was the best place they had ever worked. But now, they haven’t been paid what they’re owed, and the company hasn’t even told them why. That’s why they’re now asking BluSmart to give them the money they’re due and also help them find new jobs.
It turns out the government group Sebi has accused the Jaggi brothers, who started BluSmart, of doing some wrong things. They’re saying the brothers misused money from their other company, a solar power business called Gensol Engineering, which is connected to BluSmart. Sebi believes they were secretly taking money and faking documents related to Gensol. That’s why Sebi has now stopped the Jaggi brothers from being involved in the stock market or other companies.
The drivers said that before all this trouble, they used to get paid every week. The way it worked was, if they made more than ₹20,000 in a week, they would get an extra ₹8,000. They could also earn even more money if customers gave them good ratings. But lately, they say these extra payments have been getting smaller.
Some of the drivers even think that the people who started BluSmart were taking the company’s money for themselves. One driver in Delhi, who’s 21 years old, told a news outlet, “We got a message saying the cars were being kept at the parking spots for checking. We haven’t heard anything since then.” It sounds like they were given a reason for the sudden stop, but then everything just went silent.
One of the drivers pointed out that other taxi companies don’t even hire women drivers easily, suggesting that BluSmart might have been better in that regard before shutting down.
Now, many of these drivers are in really tough financial situations, especially those who were the only ones in their families earning money.
A driver from Gurgaon shared that he’s finding it hard to pay his daughter’s school fees because he doesn’t have a job anymore and doesn’t know what’s going to happen next, according to the news report.