Cab drivers petition over salary cuts

Abu Dhabi: About 300 Indian taxi drivers submitted mass petitions to authorities, saying they are unable to meet even the food expenses due to undue cuts on salaries.

"We thought of a strike to raise our grievances, but realising it is illegal in the UAE, we submitted the petitions," said the drivers working with Al Ghazal Transport. They produced copies of three sets of mass petitions (and documents like salary slips, offer letter, receipts and account statements).

The petitions signed by about 300 drivers with their names and ID card numbers, submitted to TransAD, the Centre for Regulation of Transport by Hire Cars (Abu Dhabi's regulatory authority for taxis) on November 11 and 23 complained that about Dh260 per month on licence and training and up to Dh800 on performance (Dh200 weekly) are cut from their offered monthly salary of Dh1200. "The company is forcing us to work more than 16 hours a day to meet the daily target of Dh250, which is too high to achieve. Our actual duty time is 11 hours per day with a weekly off-day," said the petition.

Payment

The petition further alleged that they had already paid about Rs100,000 (about Dh7,500) to an agency, Al Zarafa Group, as asked by two company officials during recruitment in India. "The officials said it was for visa, driving licence and route training expenses in Abu Dhabi," added the petition.

"We are from poor families who depend totally on our earnings. We are unable to repay the loans taken from banks for recruitment, so we request immediate action to get the offered monthly salary of Dh1200," the petitions added.

Meanwhile, 32 drivers within this group submitted a separate petition requesting their visas be cancelled to enable them to go back home. "The company demanded Dh6,000 to Dh10,000 for cancellation. We cannot pay that much as we earn Dh400-Dh500 a month," said the petition.

"We had a meeting with top officials of the company to communicate our official concern on the situation. Accordingly, Al Ghazal promised to rectify the case with immediate effect. Otherwise TransAD must/will exercise its rights to sort out such cases as per the binding regulations or conditions in our taxi contracted agreement", said Khalid Saleh Al Rashedi, General Manager of TransAD, in a statement issued to Gulf News.

Uthup M Varughese, Managing Director of Al Zarafa Group, Travel and Manpower consultants admitted taxi drivers had paid the money but claimed that it was far below the market rate. "It was not by force but by a mutual agreement to give them a job with a valid licence, which can be a life-long livelihood to them," Varughese said.

Al Ghazal Transport said in a statement: "We are looking at the deductions and evaluating them to eliminate or minimise them, and if anything is wrong, it will be reimbursed to the driver[s] affected. The remuneration arrangements, disciplinary procedures and working hours are being revised to maximise incentives for drivers with off time at par with international standards."

About allegations of taking money for visa and licence, an official said they were still investigating and in case of any irregularities, the money will be reimbursed. "We are forming a committee made up of staff representatives and senior management, which will discuss and address operational issues and staff welfare matters."