Cab fares skyrocket as drivers skip duty to cast their vote

The fares of online cab services skyrocketed in the city on Thursday owing to the high demand in view of the elections and a majority of the drivers abstaining from duty to exercise their franchise.

The cab fares in the morning hours doubled. From a journey from Seethammadhara to Jagadamba Junction, the cabs charged somewhere between ₹ 300 to ₹ 350 when compared to the regular fare of ₹120 to ₹150. Similarly, the fare from Maddilapalem Junction to Visakhapatnam railway station, a 5 km travel at best, hovered around ₹300.

Though the tariff gradually declined by the afternoon, people who wanted to go their respective destinations from the RTC bus station, railway station and airport faced a hard time in the absence of adequate transportation facility.

Even, a good number of private auto-rickshaw drivers took a half-day off to cast their vote.

As the APSRTC has diverted 688 buses for ferrying men and material to respective polling booths, it added to the woes of the commuters.

Given the situation, the voters who arrived in the city only to exercise their franchise faced hardship while returning to their place of work.

“There are no RTC buses. The tariff of private taxi services are too high to afford to. A few auto-rickshaw drivers are demanding ₹350 to ₹400 to RTC complex from Kancharapalem,” said D. Madhav Reddy who was returning to Rajamahendravaram after casting his vote.

Food delivery hit

Meanwhile, the online food delivery services was also hit with the dearth for delivery agents who went to exercise their franchise. Major online food delivery service providers put up ‘not delivering food’ notice on their websites.

According to restaurant owners, not just the delivery boys, the workers were also took their day off. Many restaurants in the city remained closed and people who depend on outside food had to suffer.

A majority of the city roads wore a deserted look, except for the rush near the polling stations.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)