Many Calcuttans who depend on app cabs are facing the heat literally as drivers are allegedly refusing to switch on the air-conditioner despite a fare that includes the payment for an AC ride.

Many drivers are citing an unwritten instruction “from office” to not switch on the AC, while some are using the dearth of enough riders as an excuse to not switch on the cooler.

One of them told a rider that it was impossible to run the AC after paying an increased commission to the aggregator, while another said it was in protest against the fuel price hike.

A spokesperson for Uber said: “We have never instructed our driver partners to switch off the AC…. We understand drivers are facing some challenges, and remain sensitive to those issues. However, Uber expects all drivers to deliver the best possible customer service.”

Ola did not respond to Metro’s query till late on Monday evening.

An app cab ride from Narendrapur to Sector V on Monday cost Sayantan Chatterjee Rs 475 — an 18km-ride that usually costs him from Rs 350 to Rs 380.

To add to the pinch, the driver allegedly refused to switch on the AC, saying there were not enough riders through the day and he could not afford AC expenses.

“I had to pay for the AC but did not get the AC service at all,” Chatterjee complained.

He said that on Sunday the driver of the app cab he had hailed told him that his office had instructed him not to run the AC.

A complaint lodged with the operator through the app did not yield any result till Monday evening, he said.

Sujit Bhaduri, a resident of Nayabad, shared a similar experience. “On March 14, I had boarded a cab from Nayabad to travel to Howrah. When I asked the driver to switch on the AC, he said he could not afford the AC expenses after paying 25 per cent of his earnings to the aggregator as his commission. Earlier, he said, it was 15 per cent,” Bhaduri said.

The Covid pandemic has prompted debates on whether it was better to avoid the AC in an enclosed space to prevent transmission of the virus.

Health experts, however, told Metro on Monday that keeping the AC off in sweltering heat might result in sweat, which could diminish the efficiency of masks.

Bibhuti Saha, the dean at the School of Tropical Medicine, said: “With the Celsius soaring, it may not be possible to avoid the AC. The risk can be minimised if the passenger and the driver are properly masked up. If I don’t switch on the AC, I will sweat and my mask will get wet. Once a mask gets wet, it loses its efficiency.”

App cab rides have increased especially because many try to avoid commuting by more crowded public transport amid the pandemic. The surge in the Celsius is another reason.

Additional reporting by Kinsuk Basu and Subhajoy Roy