Quick Reads
- Multiple viral videos have emerged on social media platforms related to the newly launched Green SM electric cab service, with drivers protesting over drastically reduced payouts.
- Drivers have accused the Vinfast-backed ride-hailing company of failing to deliver on its initial promise of a guaranteed monthly income of Rs 35,000.
- Green SM recently entered the Delhi-NCR market operating a fleet of company-owned Limo Green electric vehicles.
It hasn’t been completely a month since the highly hyper launch of Green SM premium all-electric taxi service in the Delhi-NCR region. Essentially, a Vietnam-based mobility company, Green SM operates under the same Vingroup umbrella, as Vinfast.
The brand, which promised to fundamentally change the Indian ride-hailing market dynamics with stable driver incomes and a premium commuter experience, is now dealing with mounting driver protests.
Social media is filling up with videos of drivers in Green SM uniforms, gathered in clusters, venting their frustration straight into phone cameras.The drivers are accusing the company for receiving fractionally low payouts compared to what was initially promised. The drivers also claim that the company’s management is not listening to their grievances.
The Payout Crisis and Driver Allegations
The heart of the matter lies in late and low compensation. As evident from the videos that have surfaced online recently, there have been several drivers who have vented their frustrations about the vast discrepancy between the amount of money they were expecting to make and what they actually made. For example, in one viral video, a driver states that he has put in more than a month’s worth of hard work without taking even a single day off and still did not receive more than around Rs 7,000 as total compensation.
Similarly, there is another widely seen video that features several Green SM drivers who state that after working for a number of weeks and putting in a lot of effort, they earned almost nothing, with some earning only Rs 700 to Rs 1,100 after putting in 20 consecutive days of hard work. Additionally, one driver mentioned making an amount of only Rs 1,064 per week, despite the expectation of Rs 8,076. Moreover, according to these drivers, they are getting paid only 33 percent of the trip fare instead of the 35 percent they were initially promised.
In addition to that, there are some other issues at hand that have added to the burden of financial stress for the drivers. The reason for this is that many of the company-provided electric MPVs were said to not have the FASTags activated on them or were undercharged. Due to this reason, the drivers were having to pay tolls and MCD taxes from their own pocket.
The Promise vs. The Reality
The recruitment of drivers was aggressive with a lucrative scheme by Green SM called “Minimum Business Guarantee Income.” According to this plan, Green SM provided its drivers with the minimum guarantee of Rs 35,000 (approximately Rs 1,346) for every working day for the first two months of business operations. Initially, the minimum guarantee was assumed to be irrespective of the number of rides undertaken. Green SM owned the vehicles used for providing rides, which made the plan very lucrative for the gig workers since other ride-hailing apps like Uber and Ola required drivers to have an investment in their cars.
However, as alleged by the drivers, the company suddenly modified its policy. To receive the guarantee of income, Green SM set certain conditional metrics, such as achieving at least 90 percent ride acceptance rate, 90 percent trip completion rate, and rating not below 4.8 by customers. These were not made known to the drivers during their recruiting stage.
Additionally, some drivers have even said that they were penalised for ride cancellations that were not even in their hands, such as lacking the necessary state-entry permissions to complete cross-border trips into Noida or Uttar Pradesh.
The Background: What is Green SM?
Green SM (GSM) is an electric mobility service provider funded by Vingroup, the huge corporate entity that acts as the parent organisation of the Vietnamese automobile manufacturing company VinFast. The service works on the vertically integrated business model wherein the company possesses all the electric vehicle fleet with VinFast Limo Green EVs and uses the services of the driver partners to drive them. Recently launched in the Delhi-NCR area with the launch of a fleet of electric taxis, Green SM intends to provide pollution-free rides without any surge charges to the passengers.
In light of the criticism, the spokespersons from the Green SM team mentioned that they accept the feedback they have been getting initially. They say that their officials have met up with the driver partners and reviewed the data regarding the operations.
