Call centre cars on strike in Pune

BPO's may face a severe staff crunch on May 19

Around 6,000 call centre cab owners and drivers will go on strike demanding an immediate clearance of dues, amounting to over Rs 1 crore, by various transport vendors appointed by city BPOs.

The BPO services from Pune, hence, are expected to get derailed as more than 80 per cent of BPO staffers are ferried to their workplace in company appointed cabs.

Call centre car drivers and owners united under the Maharashtra Call Centre Drivers' and Owners' Association (MCCDOA) have called this strike saying, the vendors appointed by various BPOs together have dues of more than Rs 1 crore.

MCCDOA, which claims to have support of more than 70 per cent of the 6,000 odd cars used by BPOs in Pune, has said that not a single car would ferry BPO staffers on May 19.

Pune city and neighbouring areas together have more than 95,000 professionals working with leading BPOs such as Zensar Technologies, IBM, Vcustomer, WNS, Axa, Ventura and Mphasis. Every BPO provides pick-up-and-drop facilities to its staffers to facilitate safe and timely transport during odd hours of day and at night.

Speaking to Business Standard, MCCDOA President Nana Kshirsagar said, "We will stage protests outside the IBM complex in Yerawada on May 19 demanding immediate clearance of dues lying with car vendors appointed by IBM.

Since these vendors are appointed by BPOs, the companies are responsible for timely payments and other issues. In many cases, car owners have not received payments for two to six months. All this makes it difficult for cab owners and drivers to survive." Kshirsagar stated that call centre cabs will not run in Pune on May 19 to register protest over this issue.

Interestingly, most of the BPOs have not received any formal notice from MCCDOA about the strike. Zensar Technologies Managing Director Ganesh Natarajan told Business Standard that, the company has not received any formal comunication about the strike from MCCDOA. "We have already made separate arrangments for May 19 to pick up its staffers if call drivers go on a strike," Natarajan stated.