It is not easy for drivers to quit given the debt that they've taken on. It is tougher to operate as an independent taxi driver than to be on a platform. Many of the drivers I have spoken to have migrated from smaller cities and I doubt it would be easy for them to operate independently.

It's auto debt. The car will be taken by the bank. What else can the bank do?

The truth is that cab drivers are making a livelihood, in fact a much better livelihood than they were making without Uber and Ola.

> much better livelihood than they were making without Uber and Ola

Source please. Also can you quantify "much better"?

I think my assertion is much more likely than yours that people were in higher paying jobs and moved to Uber/Ola, a lower paying job, so you should give a source for that.

Nevertheless the source is my twice daily ride with Uber and talking to the drivers. Most of the drivers are youngsters from villages with no degrees and no skills now making a living. They also don’t own the car and drive for someone else. The fact that the Uber/Ola commission is able to support the driver and owner should tell you something.

So let’s say you’ve paid 20% of it as advance, plus you’ve spent a year figuring out Uber and Ola are fleecing you. In that year you’ve put down another 10% into instalments.

What then ? You’ll give up 30% of the money just because you don’t like Uber and Ola anymore. If the bank takes the car back, the driver loses all the money he’s toiled to make.

If you speak to a lot of them, they’ll tell you that once they clear the car debt and sell the car, they’d most probably head back home to their villages and just go back to farming.

They work a few hours a day and make 100-200$ a month. Vs making almost the same by toiling 12 hours a day in a car and in some of the worst traffic conditions.

Maybe it’s different in India but can you not sell the car and use the proceeds to pay off the lien to the bank and keep the difference?

Or are you saying they’re underwater on the loans? If so, what can the bank do about it besides repossess the car? How exactly are they stuck in the city working for Uber?

En masse actions don't usually happen unless laborers are organized (aka unionized), which isn't the case here. Note that the other side - the corporation - is organized. Your comment makes a good case for unionization, though I suspect that wasn't your intent.

Did you not read to the end of his comment? Here you go:

> They’ve already committed to the debt, and if they stopped paying it, they’ll loose the car, which is all they have as assets.

So why isn't the problem the car loan rather than the work? Sounds like the loan is what's predatory.

The bank/financier and the driver were both drawn in by Uber's promise of riches. But when the promise isn't delivered on, the driver is screwed. The bank wins either way.

Its getting harder and harder by the day to hail a cab via these apps. Meanwhile its getting easier to get a Tuk Tuk ride. Also known as Rickshaw.

The problem is that the alternatives are not attracting consumers. There are "call taxis" which take around 5% commission and are considered as the relatively better alternative by the drivers. There are several strikes against Uber and Ola by the drivers in the last few months.

Drivers can leave Uber/Ola only if the Consumers also do.