Car & Bike Indian Cabs Services Feedback Thread (Uber,Ola,Meru Etc)

swatkats

swatkats

Skilled
We have various taxi services. From Meru to Ola to Uber, ranging from Rs.7/km to 25/km

I thought we'll have a discussion thread on Indian Cabs and it services.

Kindly share your Feedback and Alert us if any Improper practices by drivers.


My Recent observations:

- Since the introduction of Ride time charges on Uber and Ola, These drivers are driving slowly even though the roads are fit to drive at decent speeds to increase the fare amount.
- Cabs are supposed to keep the AC running but some drivers refuse to turn it ON giving lame excuses and in unavoidable situations, they turn it on.
- In a bid to make small change, OLA is registering Autos which have Tampered meters. GPS doesn't come in to the picture. Pay by tampered meter.
 
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My overall experience with uber was much better compared to Ola . Also the pricing , Ola took 1k form bangalore to airport and while coming back the same distance Uber took 550 .
 
Does it make financial sense to buy a car and put on OLA/ Uber duty? Assuming I have some one who can do driver duty.
 
Financially don't know but now that drivers started masturbating and whatnot, won't think of rent car to such services.
Tomorrow some driver may play porn movies, bang a girl...errr may spoil the seats and inside...yuckss!

Rather offer it to transport escort services.
 
axeman said:
Does it make financial sense to buy a car and put on OLA/ Uber duty? Assuming I have some one who can do driver duty.
Click to expand...

I have a similar question, on one of my rides a little chit chat with the taxi driver mentioned that they get paid Rs.2250 per/day for being logged into the system for 12 hours, even if they dont get any rides.
 
Some Uber driver told me, he makes around 1500 Rupees 12hours trip a day.
And that Ride time charges collected from us are paid to them in the form of bonus.

The other Ola driver told me, He gets ~6rs out of 10/km, He was arguing Uber was far better than Ola.
Recently had a bad experience with Genie Cabs, Totally poor conditioned cars and that too 12/km, Not at all worth. This is in Hyderabad.


Recently i came across this Quora thread, Driver makes more than a Lakh rupees without TDS.

Incident Location: New Delhi (April 2015)

I hired a Toyota Innova - UberBlack Category.
Without surge prices : Rs 120 Base fare + Rs 12 per kms

The driver was very happy, friendly and morally positive. He was very much lean towards customer service, he had magazines and current newspapers onboard, and a small cooler store, it had mineral water, lassi, coffee, soft drinks, and additionally there were mouth freshners, chips and some toffees, and all this was available for the MRP. (Driver explained, so they don't have to pull sideways for these stuff, and it is the extra care for clients.)

Me: So how much money are you making from Uber ?

Driver: I am very content for the services and remuneration, I have made Rs 52000 max per week. As I take my work seriously, I work from morning 5:00AM to 10:00PM night, and the saturdays and sundays are mostly happening ones that covers a week.

Me: Its awesome, so what is the mode of communication, payment, and other relevant procedure to enroll.

Driver: The process is easy n simple, they are now tight with rules and documents, and they pay me every week by wire transfer. The weekly earning is generated as report with amount and kms details and paid out, all things come through mail and my son helps me to sort out, and count and calculate.

Me: Do you make Rs 50000-52000 every week ?

Driver: No that depends, last week, I was out to meet my family in Punjab for 3 days, worked for 4 days, and I made Rs 29000. (He also showed me transaction message of Rs 52000 from his bank, and tax was not deducted at source).

The payment pattern is simple, like you take a ride, and bill generated is Rs 560, he will be credited Rs 200 extra , means he will get Rs 760 in account and rs 200 is bonus and gratuity per ride.( Yes, this is a temporary phenomena as they are boosting business in India.)

Me: So you are earning Rs 180000-200000 per month by this car.

Driver: This is an SUV, and according to traffic in delhi, I spend around Rs 40000-50000 on fuel, and maintenance is about 10000-15000. So i am making Rs 1.2 lakhs nowadays.

Me: Cool it is (*thinking in mind, god why am I doing MBA)


After this awesome response, I decided to add one more trip details.


INCIDENT 2: New delhi (May 2015)
Hired: UberX - Suzuki Swift Dezire
Driver was frank and friendly, shared much details.
Total Earnings: 28000-34000 per week.

Ideology: He drives from evening through night, doing air ports pick up and railway stations drop.

Earnings: Rs 120000 average, after 30k-35k fuel and 10k maintenance, take out money = Rs 75000-80000
Click to expand...

http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-av...-driver-in-India/answer/Manan-Gupta-3?ref=fb#
 
My experience:
In Bhubaneswar: There was only OLA & MERU in Bhubaneswar when I was there (UBER just launched last week). Never used Meru, Ola had a decent service. Never had problems.
In Hyderabad: Ola sucks! Uber is great & cheaper too. The first time I booked Ola, the guy didn't knew the route from Begumpet station to Ameerpet!
The second time, I specifically mentioned that I am standing at the entrance of Birla Temple opposite of RBI building, waited for half an hour, still the guy couldn't find the place. Had to cancel Ola & book Uber instead. The Uber cab came in 5 minutes.The Ola driver kept calling again and again even after booking was cancelled.

Regarding AC, they do turn it on if the temperature is high. Most drivers won't switch it on during early mornings, during rainfall, etc. They do turn it on when requested.

Another thing to note is that the Ola app is too buggy. The search box does not work on my phone. It almost always shows wrong location of the cab in the map. Sometimes, it will show that the cab has arrived even when it actually didn't.
 
As far as Ola\Taxi For Sure are concerned, I would recommend that people stay away from the wallet system they use despite the convenience it affords. I had the issue below with a cab booked via Taxi For Sure. I did raise a complaint and was refunded 2 weeks later, but the fact that this is a possibility is a serious concern.

I used the TaxiForSure mobile app to make a booking at my residence in Chennai. The app stated the cab was near by and allocated the driver. I was tracking him on the app to see when I should head outside. The map showed him heading to a location 3 kilometers away, and the App then reported that my cab was ready. I headed downstairs and the cab was nowhere to be seen! The map showed him at the same location 3 KM away. The app then reported that my cab ride had started (the 'Enjoy your journey' message came up) and the cab started moving even further away on the map.

I immediately called up the driver and he picked up and I asked him where he was. He asked me for a pick up location. I told him where I was, to which he responded "I am already near the lighthouse". The lighthouse is in the opposite direction from my residence . I asked him why he started the cab ride if he had no intention of picking me up! He then apologized and said he would come immediately. The map continued to show him going further away. I waited for 10 minutes and called him again. I explained the situation to him and he said he has cancelled the journey and I will not be charged.

Thirty minutes later I receive a message that I was charged from my Taxi For Sure wallet for my cab journey which never happened!

There are a couple of points I would like to raise here:

1) When making a booking with the app (especially with a wallet balance) there is no way for the app user to confirm whether the cab driver has actually picked them up.
2) The power is entirely with the cab driver to state whether he has arrived at the pick up location (even if it is entirely different on the map) AND he also is entirely in control when the charged cab ride starts (even if he hasn't picked up a passenger!).
3) This puts customers with a wallet balance at risk of being exploited without being provided any service and yet being charged for it.​
 
The problem is with smaller cities' drivers. Including Kolkata. GPS not working, Last moment cancellations, cleanliness of cars. Basic etiquettes.

OLA in Bangalore was fine, OLA in Kolkata sucks.

For Airport drops, scheduled drops Meru is probably the best though pricey.

UBER has been saviour on so many occasions when OLA cancels (ride later). If you cant provide scheduled drives then don't have option on your app.

Nowadays OLA have stopped responding to feedback. Earlier at least they'd call to check the issue.

Recently my 5 AM OLA airport drop booked a day before was cancelled at 5:05 after receiving driver details confirmed at 4:45. When I called up a very (Airtel) sounding CC guy told me to contact and convince the driver. Totally slated the guy. He agreed to call another cab which I cancelled and just booked an UBER.

Previous day the OLA driver could not find my location since his GPS wasn't working. Booked UBER.

Later that day during heavy showers in the night OLA simply refused to go and asked for cancellation.

UBER on the hand was waiting right outside the Mall I was at. Not by chance but because the driver had the common sense of being near a mall during heavy showers when 100-150 people were waiting inside the mall.

I was trying to make use of a 50₹ off drive for 5 days therefore multiple attempts.

OLA themselves have a multiplying factor which was very surprising when they slated UBER.
 
Frankly I am against Uber, Ola etc as for the most part they seem to be circumventing laws on taxes, registration etc. So have been trying to avoid them.

My first experience with these cabs happened last week. My office has a any time free cab pick and drop facility. On reaching the cab stand found out there were no cabs at all. Turns out many of the cabbies have been leaving jobs and driving for Ola/Uber etc. So the coordinator had to call an Ola cab for me. He also told me the trip estimate was 250, to be reimbursed later. On reaching home the cost turned out to be 300. On checking the bill, Ola had graciously charged me for extra 3 kms.

Though what really bugs me about this whole operation is - everyone is going to come out in a bad shape once this party is over.
Riders - Normally taxis are an expensive proposition. People used to get one for airports built outside the city or for some special occasion. Nowadays with coupons and free rides its cheap, everyone is booking one left and right. But this money is coming from VCs who want fast growing business without profits. That is not a sustainable business in a long run. Sooner or later coupons will stop and prices will go back being expensive.

Cabbies - These will be the most affected lot. Currently they are being paid huge money out of VC pockets. Again once companies try to move towards a more profitable business, they will stop the "incentives". Once that happens, I am sure these guys will start asking for costlier trips and being in India, some sort of bandhs and strikes.
This will create a negative feedback loop and affect everyone in the end.
 
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Regular taxis go around traffic laws; registration laws too.

And enough of the Yellow Taxis (at least in Kolkata) and their extortion.

Same fare no refusal AC cabs (so called 25% extra for AC) hold you hostage as well and have zero accountability since no one gives a damn.

On call Cab service maybe lucrative only in the short term but just let them ride the wave. In the end it's made life more comfortable and has let people earn a decent living. Some may start their own small rental service you never know.
 
Seconded. I'm all for more competition and choice and am against anything and everything that interferes with it.
 
I once got a drunk driver from OLA, he fell asleep in the middle of a flyover in traffic, luckily traffic was moving slow due to congestion & rain , had to get out at the end of the flyover in rain , i regret not filming the whole thing on my phone , there was no major action taken by ola other than they emailed me & told me that they had fined the driver, i could have been in a serious accident that day .
 
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https://images.trackcampaigns.com/ci/3191/4995/258489/images/surgeHyd.jpg

No Meru, We're Not fools like you think. But i have to agree that few people are being taken for a ride.
 
Surge pricing is pretty bad in Hyderabad. Almost all times the prices are above normal especially during early mornings and evenings both on Ola and Uber. I did not face any such issues in Bangalore or Bhubaneswar.
 
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