BluSmart’s shutdown might have inconvenienced many customers who often preferred its services to Uber and Ola, but it has inconvenienced its drivers even more.
Hundreds of BluSmart drivers are protesting in Delhi over unpaid dues from the cab hailing company. They are demanding compensation and alternative employment. BluSmart had shut down operations last month after a SEBI investigation had revealed that the company’s founders had been siphoning off company money to buy luxury homes and golf clubs.
BluSmart had around 10,000 driver partners before it had shuttered its services. Hundreds of these drivers are now protesting in Delhi. “We made BluSmart what it is. Why are we the ones left to suffer?” BluSmart driver Sanjay Sagar told ET. “We were not at fault.” Several drivers said that their last payments were delayed or not received at all.
“Drivers who are sitting unemployed and idle demand their rights,” a placard at the protest said. “Drivers demand what is rightfully theirs,” said another.
Gig Workers Association’s organizing secretary, Nitesh Kumar Das, said the company abandoned drivers without compensation. “This is unjust. These people built the company with their labour. There must be a law to prevent such exploitation.”
BluSmart had suspended operations after a SEBI investigation had revealed that the promoters of its parent company, brothers Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi, had been using company loans meant to purcahse EVs to instead purchase luxury items for themselves. In particular, the founders had collectively diverted around Rs. 200 crore towards buying a flat in the high-end DLF Camellias apartments in Gurgaon, sent money to relatives, and bought foreign exchange and luxury golf sets. As soon as news had broken, BluSmart — which was anyway struggling under financial strain for a while — suspended its cab operations. The ED is now investigating the company and its founders.
But BluSmart’s rise — and subsequent fall — unfortunately is just how capitalism works in the real world. These drivers chose to work at BluSmart of their own volition — most protesting drivers say that Blu Smart was the best company they’d worked for — when it was doing well. When the company has collapsed, apart from looking to recover their outstanding dues, they really don’t have much recourse. Businesses are created and fail in a capitalist economy, and employees need to be prepared in case the business they’re working for goes belly up. Gig workers, in particular, need to be educated on the details of their employment — on the upside, they have the freedom to choose their working hours and can make money on incentives if they work hard, but conversely don’t have the same rights as full-time employees such as notice periods and pension payments. And with most startups that employ gig workers not really being stable businesses that make profits, gig workers would do well to assume the worst when they take on a part-time position with an up-and-coming company.