Yesterday, my 70 year old father reached the Ernakulam South Railway Station after a long journey by around 10pm. I tried to book an online taxi to bring him safe to home using both Uber and Ola. Neither of the Cab drivers were ready to pick him from the station, saying that their life is under threat from local rikshawalas and taxi drivers.  After trying hard for more than 1 hour trying to convince and cajole the drivers to pick my dad , i had to cancel all trip requests (6 trips cancelled) and request my dad to take an autorikshaw to home. At wee hours of night along with his heavy luggage, he had to pay twice the amount to the rikshawala to reach home safe.  Friends, which world are we living in ..? As a consumer, don't we have the rights to get cheaper and better service? And if some local goondas try to harm the "ready to work" drivers just in the fear of losing their business, should we bear it?  Similar incident  has happened several times for me at Aluva Railway station as well. Due to fear of life and property most of the Uber and Ola drivers have stopped their services and recently only very few cabs are available when we search and most of the time, there is a surge pricing. So, why are we , the consumers suffering in the name of goondaism? There have been several incidents in the recent past in Kochi where the consumers were asked to get out of the cabs and take another cab that these goondas suggested.  As a Consumer , don't we have the right to choose our product or service as we want?  Isn't denial of service a denial of consumer right?  And if the denial is due to fear of life, isn't it time for the Govt to intervene?  The Competition Act 2002 gives a Citizen of India the following Rights: "To prohibit the agreements or practices that restricts free trading and also the competition between two business entities,To ban the abusive situation of the market monopoly,To provide the opportunity to the entrepreneur for the competition in the market,To have the international support and enforcement network across the world,To prevent from anti-competition practices and to promote a fair and healthy competition in the market. " So, aren't we eligible to get better services at lower cost when someone is ready to give us the same?  And yes, this doesn't mean that the other Taxiwalas or Rikshawalas lose their livelihood. They can also take part in the race. Who prevented them from giving such impeccable service ?  Yes, We the Citizens and Consumers want the freedom of choice - to select the transport service as per our need. We want Uber / Ola or any other online taxis to ply in all parts of state - including the Railway Stations and Airports.    Please sign this petition and give maximum share and publicity among your friends, so that we can make a change together! Yes, We need comfort , safety and cost effective travel in Kochi just like the other cities.  P.S. The photo above is that of a strike by Taxi drivers in Delhi when Delhi Govt banned Uber after Nirbhaya incident. What an irony ! Here our taxis are against uber and there they enjoy the benefits of online taxis that they support them! Is it the "nookkukooli" mindset of Malayalies! !?