Hyderabad: Do you take taxi rides on Uber and Ola often? If so, then you have to look for an alternative as the Uber and Ola drivers will go strike on March 19 across the country along with their families at the respective offices.

The drivers will shut their devices from 8 am on March 19 and asserted that if the demands are not met they would continue to go on indefinite strike. The basic demand of the drivers is to ensure business of Rs 1.25 lakh as promised in the beginning, withdraw company owned cars, taking back the drivers who were given low points by the riders and asking to stop low fare bookings.

Sanjay Naik, spearheading the campaign in Mumbai rues that cabbies have incurred losses due to the mismanagement of the companies. “The drivers, along with their families, will protest outside the offices of Uber and Ola on March 19. Over the years, the businesses of these drivers have slumped due to the mismanagement of these companies. If they do not take our demands seriously then this protest can be indefinite," said Sanjay.

A driver expresses his anguish saying that despite working over 12 hours they are not able to pay loans and maintain their families. It is learnt that due to plummet in trade, there’s a drop of 20 per cent of Ola-Uber on the roads.

Earlier, in January in Goa, a strike was called by tourist taxi associations in protest against the implementation of speed governors on tourist taxis, harassment by Transport Department and police officials. Countering the strike, Transport Minister Sudin Dhavalikar said if the "illegal" strike is not withdrawn by Saturday, the state government will invite taxi aggregators like Uber and Ola to operate in Goa.