[Palaver]

@hserus Wow!! This is a serious security lapse and I am surprised no one seemed to care about it and no steps were taken to address the issue. All this has made me very wary of booking cabs through these app based companies.

[GTO]

Why didn't I put my phone on silent or turn it off? Because I shouldn't have to do that. Because it's on in the night for emergencies, not to be victim to Ola Cabs' inefficient and callous security.

Tell your friend to simply block the sender! There are some great apps for that (inbuilt in Android). I regularly block all pesky SMS senders.

[hserus]

Not a bad idea - but this is a very bad security leak, and not just that, a PII leak. Their CSO needs to review this ASAP if he hasn't already.

[hybridpetrol]

@hserus, Is this the kind of information Ola sends to the cab drivers? Could it be possible that the phone number of your friend was mistakenly stored into the cab driver database? Or someone who is the rightful recipient (such as a cab driver) has registered your friend's number intentionally to cause this trouble?

[lucifer1881]

Last weekend was a particularly busy one - lots of family functions / dinners due to Rakhi, last minute tax filing, etc. I wanted to avoid driving, especially on Saturday. Saturday afternoons see the heaviest traffic in Hyderabad. I have lived in this city on and off for 25 years and I still do not know why.

Anyway. I log in to Uber. Find a cab. Book. Cab is on the way, then suddenly I am debited INR 80 because driver cancelled it. (I write a stinker to Uber, and they refund the amount but that is not the point.) I booked another Uber. This time again the driver cancelled but no debit, thankfully. Fed up with Uber, I go to Ola. I book a cab. It shows on the way. Then cab cancelled. This happened thrice.

I gave up and decided to drive. This was Saturday.

The same story repeats on Sunday. This time I book Ola in advance. They send me a booking confirmation. At the appointed time, the driver calls me and tells me he is at least half an hour away. Having no other choice, I cancel this cab and drive.

What is the common thread here? In each instance, both Uber and Ola cancelled the cab or forced me to cancel it. And then they showed me surge pricing for new bookings. This is unethical.

What if I had booked this cab to go to the airport or the railway station? I would have had to miss my flight / train because the cab companies refuse to honour their commitment.

Cabs should come under Essential Services Management Act.

There is a taxi revolution no more. It is a revolution to fleece the customer in newer and more innovative ways.

[hybridpetrol]

Originally Posted by lucifer1881

What if I had booked this cab to go to the airport or the railway station? I would have had to miss my flight / train because the cab companies refuse to honour their commitment.

IMHO, there are a number of people who take these cabs, just because the cab rate is cheap and has discount offers. These people would have otherwise walked (I know a few healthy people who book such cabs for even 2-3 km, just to avail discounts), taken bus, auto, their own car etc. As the App based cab rate and their service starts to become unappealing, these people would resume taking their own preferred mode of transport, instead of using the Ola/Uber apps.
At that point of time, we would see these cabs would start coming punctually, but of course, they would be priced reasonably higher. This is when the app based cab would become useful to the people who are really in need.
The companies have thrown a lot of money in terms of perks to drivers and added irregular drivers without much scrutiny, and lot of discounts to users who do not actually need a cab, leading to a demand and supply gap, which in turn has started negatively impacting the brand image of aggregators.
With such experiences, people would start thinking twice before tapping away a cab for an emergency.

[noopster]

May it never be said that Uber passes up the smallest opportunity to generate some goodwill!

[AkMar]

Uber introduces Rs 110 airport surcharge in Mumbai

https://newsroom.uber.com/mumbai/201...airport-fares/

The Mumbai International and Domestic Airport’s management has recently allotted designated pick-up areas for commercial vehicles entering the premises to pick-up passengers. While this allows for greater convenience and a shorter walk to your ride after a long flight, the management has levied a mandatory ₹110 surcharge for all commercial vehicles entering this area to accept requests.

In light of this, we’re adjusting our fares to automatically account for this surcharge on a ride successfully requested at the airports. This works in the same way that the sea-link toll is automatically added to your trip fare. When a toll or surcharge is charged to your account, our driver partner produces proof that he has paid for it, upon which he is reimbursed for it. This means that you do not need to pay cash to your driver, as Uber is intended to be a cashless experience.

[achilles101]

Ola and drivers at loggeheads in Bangalore.

Notable quote:
Another driver said the problems started almost two months back.
"Till Ola managed to pick up business, it was treating drivers very well. Now, it has got a majority of the taxis in the city and is doing all sorts of tricks to exploit drivers as well as passengers," he said.

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/banga...w/48764216.cms

From earning incentives of Rs 3,000-5,000 per day to haggling over a few hundred rupees, drivers of taxi aggregator Ola claim to be going through a rough phase.
Miffed with the aggregator for snipping their incentives, Ola drivers continued their protest at the company's office in Murugeshpalya for the second day on Tuesday.
Ganesh M, a driver, said there were instances in the past of drivers earning incentives between Rs 3,000 to 5,000 for over 10 trips, but now drivers are struggling to get Rs 75 per trip for driving during peak hours.
"It is not only a few drivers, but a majority are facing the same problem," he said.
The drivers also accused the aggregator of not crediting incentives as promised for peak hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by hybridpetrol

@hserus, Is this the kind of information Ola sends to the cab drivers? Could it be possible that the phone number of your friend was mistakenly stored into the cab driver database? Or someone who is the rightful recipient (such as a cab driver) has registered your friend's number intentionally to cause this trouble?

To close this issue - yes that is what apparently happened and it was resolved after it hit the media.

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/banga...w/48750414.cms

[ssambyal1980]

The advent of radio taxi services in India has gone a long way to make life easier for the commuters to travel within choked metros and big cities. Since their launch these cab services have become quite popular owing to their customer oriented way of service. Their fares are fixed and are clearly mentioned on the cab itself, thereby satisfying the customer that he/she won't be fleeced. With the cabs being equipped with GPS tracking devices the women customers feel a lot safe to travel in them. Lately with the introduction of book a cab apps on android phones, booking the cab has become very convenient and one can avail the services quite easily even during the odd hours.

[Tanmay K]

Your experience as a customer is solely dependent on the driver you get and has little to with what service you choose (mostly); a lot of drivers keep an Ola device as well as an Uber device with them. As the number of drivers is increasing, I have noticed a downward trend in level of services being provided.

Back when Uber was initially launched in Delhi, they only had premium cabs like Mercedes, Audis and Fortuners. It's too much to ask for but I wish Uber had stayed that way because the quality of experience is nosedived in comparison to what it used to be.

[JD1]

Has anyone's Ola money in wallet being converted to Recharge voucher with an expiration date? I have stopped using Ola since they added Ride time charges but had some money in my wallet which I was using for Ola Cafe. Now they took the money and instead gave me a recharge voucher (of a higher value though but has expiration date and is only valid on Ola cabs and not on Ola Cafe). This happened with anyone else? Is this even legit? Upon emailing customer service, they refused to take back the voucher and revert back the Ola money.

[navrddy]

Hi All,

Till now Ola was burning VC's money to incentivize Cab drivers and Consumers.
Now it is the turn of Ola to milk money from Customers and Cab drivers.

[reverse_gear]

From today's HT Mumbai edition.