Many passengers in the city have complained that app cab drivers have been refusing to switch on their car’s air-conditioner.

Several drivers cited rising fuel prices as the reason for not being able to afford ACs anymore.

The Telegraph spoke to some drivers and cab owners. Here are three accounts.

Vijay Gupta, 47

Owner-driver of a Swift Dzire, registered with Uber

Family: Gupta is a resident of Haridevpur. Apart from his two children and wife, Gupta has to take care of his elderly parents and a bedridden brother and his family.

He managed to repay his car loan in April 2020 but is now finding it difficult to make ends meet with the rise in fuel prices.

Income: In 2016, he used to earn Rs 1 lakh a month and could take around Rs 60,000-Rs 70,000 home after spending on fuel and incurring the driver’s expenses. Now, he drives the car himself. With reduced incentives from Uber and increased fuel prices, the monthly earning he takes home has gone down to Rs 25,000 a month, he said.

Impact of AC: Not switching on the AC enables him to save around Rs 200 a day. “That means a lot of money for a family that has two school-going children and two patients. My brother also has a car but he suffered from brain haemorrhage while on a trip in January. He has been bedridden since. I am taking care of his family as well,” Gupta said.

His mother is suffering from a lung infection, he said.

Mahmood Alam, 39

Driver of a Swift Dzire, with Ola

Family: A resident of Pilkhana, Howrah, Alam has a joint family of elderly parents, his wife, two children, two brothers and their families. He used to drive an auto in Howrah’s Salkia, before he started driving for Ola in 2016.

Income: “My earning has become half of what I used to earn before the lockdown last year,” he said. Alam used to earn between Rs 22,000 and Rs 25,000 a month earlier. Now, this has come down to around Rs 10,000-Rs 12,000, he said.

He blamed multiple factors — from the fuel price hike to reduced incentives from Ola — for the decline in his income. “Earlier Ola used to offer an incentive of Rs 500 for 12 trips. Now, the amount has been halved but the number of trips has been increased to 13,” Alam said.

Impact of AC: “If I keep the AC off, I get more mileage and save between Rs 150 to Rs 200 a day, depending on the kilometers covered. At the end of the day, when I report back to my employer and inform him that I have saved his Rs 200, which he would have to spend on fuel otherwise, my chances of getting an incentive from him gets brighter,” Alam said.

The owner has to pay for fuel, maintenance, tax and traffic fines. “How can I expect anything from him if I don’t save anything for him?” Alam added.

Sukesh Panda, 41

Owner of a Swift Dzire, with Uber

Family: Originally from Odisha, Panda’s family still stays there. He stays in Tollygunge

Income: Around the end of 2017, when Panda enrolled with Uber, his monthly income used to be around Rs 72,000, out of which he would pay around Rs 26,000 (Rs 60 per trip) to his driver and spend another Rs 24,000 on fuel. “Now, after paying the driver and purchasing the fuel, I only have around Rs 16,000. My income is actually less than what I have to pay as EMI for the car,” Panda said.

Earlier, the company was paying Rs 12 per kilometer but now the rate has been slashed to Rs 8 per kilometre, he said.

Impact of AC: Panda said he has instructed his driver to first explain that the fuel price hike has prompted them to keep the cooler off. “I have told him to switch on the AC in case the passenger insists,” he said.

Panda said by keeping the AC off, he saves around Rs 1,000 a month (depending on the number of trips and kilometers covered).

“I have told my driver to keep it on in the afternoon. Anyway, my income from this business is less than what I am paying as EMI and I have to pay from my pocket. I don’t mind spending another Rs 1,000 from my pocket if that gives comfort to my passengers,” he said.