Riders strike against harassment by police

Dhaka Ridesharing Drivers Union (DRDU) enforced a 24-hour strike across the country on Tuesday to press home their six-point demand, including an end to harassment by police.

The other demands are recognising app-based riders as workers; fixing commission to be paid at 10% for all types of rides, instead of the current 25%; arranging parking space for ridesharing vehicles in Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet; exempting listed ridesharing vehicles from Advanced Income Tax (AIT); and returning the AIT collected from listed vehicle owners last year. 

The strike was observed from 12:01am on Tuesday.

The Dhaka Ridesharing Drivers Union (DRDU) also formed a human chain in front of the National Press Club. Over a thousand riders participated in the chain in the morning.

No ride-sharing driver was seen on the streets of Kawran Bazar intersection, Bangla Motor, Shahbagh, Matsya Bhaban, Press Club and Paltan areas in the capital.

Belal Ahmed Khan, general secretary of DRDU, said, "We share a ride waiting in the sun and rain. We pay a 25% commission from our income, which is excessive. But the regret is that we still do not know whether ride-sharing is a service or a trade.

"We are still not officially considered as workers. The government has not been able to formulate policies for app-based ride-sharing in the last five years. As a result, we are being harassed and deprived of our due wages."

Ruhul Amin, acting president of the organisation, said that despite there being four lakh riders in the country, there was no trade union for them. "For that, we did not receive any assistance or incentives in the last one-and-a-half years during the Covid-19 pandemic."

He further said, "We work for 14-16 hours; we live hand to mouth. Besides, the ride-sharing apps are kept shut sometimes which makes us jobless."

Kamal Ahmed, president of Sylhet Ride Sharing, said, "We demand that the government make arrangements so that we can drive in a hassle-free environment.

"Many riders bought their vehicles after taking loans from various NGOs and banks. We demand to reduce the commission [we pay] to 10% from the existing 25%," he added.

Earlier, a driver of a ride-sharing platform set his own motorcycle on fire to protest what he said was police harassment.

A video of the incident, which took place on the Badda Link Road area in the capital on Monday morning, went viral on social media.

In the video, the driver was venting his anger towards the police who had stopped him and asked for his vehicular documents for breaching traffic rules. The rider got agitated and began a heated argument, which ended with him setting his bike on fire.