Odisha bandh strands fliers as cab fares soar at Bhubaneswar airport

Air travellers arriving in Bhubaneswar on Thursday faced severe disruption as a statewide Odisha bandh coincided with an ongoing confrontation between app-based drivers and aggregators, leaving passengers at Biju Patnaik International Airport stranded amid reports of cab drivers demanding up to three times the usual fare.

Bandh collides with simmering dispute over app-based fares

The 12-hour Odisha bandh, observed on October 8 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. by parties aligned with the INDIA bloc, led to road blockades and reduced public transport services across several districts, including the capital. Published coverage indicates that the shutdown was called to oppose recent changes to mining legislation and to raise concerns over school textbooks and electoral roll revisions. As buses, autos and other local transport services thinned out, the airport quickly became a pressure point for travellers trying to reach the city.

The bandh unfolded just weeks after app-based cab, auto-rickshaw and bike taxi drivers in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack launched a series of protests and strikes to demand regulated fares, higher driver payouts and greater job security. In mid-August, reports highlighted a “zero supply” agitation in which drivers associated with platforms such as Ola, Uber, Rapido and state-backed Odisha Yatri either stayed off the road or sporadically accepted rides while pressing for a fixed fare structure.

Those earlier agitations had already disrupted airport connectivity, with local media noting that passengers outside the terminal struggled to find cabs and, in some cases, were prevented from boarding app-booked vehicles as protesters targeted online services. The overlap between Thursday’s political bandh and unresolved disputes in the ride-hailing sector contributed to particularly acute disruption at Biju Patnaik International Airport.

Reports of triple fares and long waits at Biju Patnaik Airport

Travellers landing in Bhubaneswar on Thursday morning described, through social media posts and local language forums, long queues at the airport taxi stand and limited app-based options. A pattern already documented in recent weeks resurfaced: when rides did appear on popular platforms, some drivers allegedly insisted on cancelling the in-app fare and negotiating sharply higher cash payments instead.

Recent first-hand accounts from travellers using the airport have described demands for double or more than double the fare quoted in ride-hailing apps, and in some cases offline cabs charging several hundred rupees extra for short urban trips. On bandh day, forum posts suggested that for certain destinations within the city, passengers were being asked to pay roughly three times what similar journeys cost during off-peak periods earlier this year.

With Odisha Yatri services also reported as inconsistent during earlier rounds of industrial action, many passengers arriving during the bandh found themselves with few alternatives beyond the prepaid taxi counter or informal negotiations with drivers outside the terminal. For visitors unfamiliar with local prices, the lack of transparent, regulated fare information at the curb added to confusion over what constituted a reasonable rate under shutdown conditions.

Limited mitigation measures and uneven transport availability

In response to earlier taxi and app-based strikes, publicly available information shows that the Bhubaneswar–Cuttack Commissionerate Police deployed patrol and PCR vehicles near the airport, including provisions to assist passengers in medical emergencies. During the August “zero supply” agitation, those vehicles were tasked with stepping in when no commercial rides were available, particularly for hospital transfers.

Ahead of the October 8 bandh, Odisha private bus operators announced that they would keep most long-distance services running, signalling that intercity connectivity to the capital would not be fully shut. However, city-focused services such as autorickshaws and some aggregator-linked vehicles were expected to be far more constrained, leaving a gap between the main bus stands and the airport terminal. That gap appears to have widened once the bandh came into effect and road blockades intensified in pockets of the city.

Travellers arriving with tight onward connections, including rail departures from Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, faced particular uncertainty. Although some local commentary indicated that a limited number of buses and private vehicles continued to ply key routes, the absence of reliable, real-time information on which services were operating made it difficult for passengers to plan alternatives from the airport during the shutdown window.

Passenger grievances highlight deeper structural issues

The current episode of bandh-linked disruption has unfolded against a backdrop of longstanding friction between airport users and local taxi networks in Bhubaneswar. Online forums dedicated to the city and state include months of accounts from residents and visitors who say they routinely pay surcharges, face pressure to settle fares in cash rather than through apps, or encounter drivers who attempt to reroute journeys to increase distance-based charges.

At the same time, recent strikes and memoranda submitted by driver associations outline parallel grievances from those operating taxis and autos. Publicly available documents and coverage of protests list demands such as a government-notified fare band per kilometre, compensation for long waits and last-minute cancellations, caps on platform commissions and restrictions on adding new vehicles without regulatory oversight. Driver groups argue that, without such protections, base fares on aggregators have become unsustainably low, pushing them to seek higher take-home earnings through negotiated premiums.

The convergence of these competing pressures is especially visible at a high-traffic hub like Biju Patnaik International Airport, which handled several million passengers in the most recent reporting year. With limited mass transit links directly connecting the terminal to key neighbourhoods and nearby cities, arriving travellers are heavily dependent on cabs, autos and app-based services. When those services are disrupted by either political shutdowns or industrial actions, even short-distance trips can become costly and time-consuming.

What the disruption means for future visitors to Odisha

For travellers planning flights into Bhubaneswar in the coming weeks, Thursday’s experience during the Odisha bandh underscores the importance of monitoring both political calls for shutdowns and ongoing negotiations between driver collectives and mobility platforms. While bandh dates are often announced in advance, industrial actions among transport providers may be more fluid, with drivers shifting between full strikes, partial service and selective acceptance of rides.

Public information from state agencies and bus associations suggests that core intercity bus services are likely to be prioritised even during political shutdowns, but last-mile connectivity from the airport to hotels, railway stations and residential areas can still be highly unpredictable. Visitors arriving on days affected by bandhs or strikes may wish to anticipate longer transfer times, prepare to negotiate offline fares if necessary and remain aware that some drivers could seek rates significantly above app-listed prices.

The situation at Bhubaneswar’s airport on October 8 also points to wider debates about urban mobility in growing Indian state capitals. Local commentary increasingly calls for stronger regulation of app-based fares, more robust public transport links to major gateways and clearer safeguards for both passengers and gig workers. Until such measures are in place, episodes like the Odisha bandh are likely to continue exposing the fragility of airport access for travellers in and out of the state.