No Pay, No Drive: BluSmart Drivers Rally Over Pending Payments

Weeks after the EV ride-hailing company abruptly suspended operations, hundreds of BluSmart driver partners have started protesting throughout Delhi-NCR, calling for compensation and alternative employment.

The drivers, many of whom call BluSmart the best platform they've ever used, claimed they were left in the dark about unpaid invoices and received no official word from the company. It is predicted that more than 10,000 drivers in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi-NCR will be impacted.

The protests follow the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi) decision to bar Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi, cofounders of BluSmart, from holding board positions and accessing the securities markets due to accusations of document forgery and fund syphoning in their solar EPC company, Gensol Engineering, which is closely associated with BluSmart.

Struggle Continues for Driver Partners

According to driver partners, they were previously paid on a weekly basis under a scheme that offered them extra incentives based on customer reviews in addition to INR 8,000 if their weekly profits were above INR 20,000.

Incentives have apparently decreased recently, though, as numerous drivers claim the founders embezzled the funds for their own personal use. A number of drivers informed a media company that they had either not gotten their most recent payments or they had received them late.

 Delhi driver Tarisha Kumar, 21, informed a news outlet that the drivers received a notification stating that the vehicles were being detained at hubs for an audit. Nothing since. She also shared her experience of how difficult it is for other platforms to onboard female drivers.

 In the capital, BluSmart employed more than 300 female drivers, many of whom are currently having difficulty finding new employment. Male drivers find it simpler, but women, particularly single mothers, are left behind, Kumar continued.

Abandoned Drivers Without Compensation

Nitesh Kumar Das, the organising secretary of the Gig Workers Association, said that the company had left drivers unpaid.

"This is unfair. With their labour, these individuals established the business. A law is necessary to stop this kind of exploitation. There is a lot of financial strain on many driver partners right now, particularly on the ones who were the only earners,” Kumar opined.

One driver from Gurgaon claimed that he is having trouble paying his daughter's tuition because he does not have a job and is unsure of his future. Since stopping operations, BluSmart has not released an official comment.

BluSmart had more than 10,000 driver partners using the platform prior to its shutdown. Drivers now claim that they are unable to get back in after being logged out of the app. Since April 3rd, drivers have been unable to log in.

 The OTP fails to arrive. "They seem to have completely abandoned us," another driver-partner remarked.