Checks and balances

There are two major ride-hailing companies in Pakistan. Undoubtedly, they are providing good services to customers, but they are also guilty of exploiting vendors/partners and drivers associated with them. The following are some complaints of these people. There is no competent authority that can keep a check on their policies. For instance, drivers/ vendors are permanently blocked without any reason. These drivers don’t have the option to appeal against these harsh actions. Sometimes, these companies say that the unjustified blocking is due to some fault in the system. These two major companies are owned by a single company because of which they enjoy their monopoly. If a captain is blocked by one company for any reason, the other company also puts him in the “blocked” list without any right to appeal.

Initially, when these companies had just started their operations in the country, they used to retain 25 percent of sales revenue of vendors/partners, but also gave back about half of the same amount through bonuses and incentives. Now, all bonuses have been stopped. Drivers/vendors still have to pay 25 percent of gross revenue. The companies don’t realise that drivers/vendors have to deal with rising fuel cost, salaries of drivers, and repair and maintenance cost of the vehicle. The amount that is left with them is usually not enough to meet the expenses. Since there is a monopoly of these two companies, other companies are not being allowed to enter the market. The higher authorities are requested to introduce a legal and regulatory framework for these companies. They should allow all stakeholders to participate in the decision-making process so that the interests of all parties are safeguarded.

Tahir Mahmood Nadeem

Gujranwala