[cpbopanna]

Originally Posted by Thermodynamics

.....My recent ride using Ola was a disaster. It was Ola micro, an old indica that appeared straight out of a wreckyard with torn seats and dirt all over inside and outside.

Fare Details
===========
Total Fare (rounded off) ₹421

That would be ₹43/km

You seriously need to complain to the transport department. No aggregator can charge beyond the maximum A/c taxi fare, e.g. Rs. 18/km in Karnataka!

[RegularIndian]

Looks like the revolution is coming to a tipping point, yet again!
Innumerable issues reported by Uber/Ola riders, I am subject to some of them.
As a result, I have switched to Ola from UBER.
NO MORE UBER RIDES for me!

Interestingly though, numbers wise it is still awesome, percentage of issues reported on a daily basis vis-s-vis the total number of rides on that day will be minuscule. So who cares!

And yes, the discounts are gone.

[libranof1987]

Was in an Uber yesterday and the driver had an Ola subscription too.

Said both Uber/Ola each have enough riders but afternoons are slow hence he uses both.

A quick glance on the Ola Driver app showed how drivers are intimated about demand in specific areas and hence surge pricing. I'm not sure how much of that surge amount comes back to the driver

In each of those red areas, the amount of surge is displayed: 50%, 90%. And I assume the time stamp 7 - 8.59pm shows how long the surge is valid?

Pretty transparent and motivating for the driver to attend to these areas; not so much for the customer!

[TejasKinger]

Ola, Microsoft tie up for new connected vehicle platform


According to an article that appeared today in Autocar, Ola will be partnering with Microsoft for a connected car platform. As a part of the partnership, Microsoft Azure will power Ola Play, and bring onboard features such as vehicle diagnosis, telematics, navigation, and predictive maintenance.

Interestingly, Customers who opt for Ola Play-enabled vehicles will be able to use Office 365 and Skype.

Read more here.

[skchettry]

I started with Meru and then had both Tabcab and Meru. Haven't tried Uber but am happy with Ola, just because the fares are much less compared to Tabcab and Meru. A few issues that I faced with Ola are: The driver cancelled the trip once possibly because he found the distance was less or he did not want to go in the direction that I intended to and then I had to struggle to find another one. On another ocassion I found I was alloted a cab which was too far from my pick up point and I found out that there were a few cabs available in my vicinity. So I had to cancel the first one and rebooked another. And I was charged the cancellation charges on my next booking.

[A M]

This is really good. Will add a premium touch to their business and they will be better equipped to counter Uber. While I'm not sure how many users would want to use Office 365 while traveling over shorter distances within the city, it would be good if they can remember user preferences to the kind of music they like or the A/C temperature they prefer and the car resets to the next passengers liking when allotted to them.

[audioholic]

Off late I used some Olas and Ubers after a break and I find the whole setup to have changed. Some random observations from my end:

• Car and driver quality in Uber have got worse, just worse. Case in question was a six year old Indicab with 350000kms on the odo, whose suspension had just given up and had collapsed, non existent headlights and non working wipers. The driver was middle aged hence I did not take any action immediately since he was courteous and completed the journey well. But where did their policy of taking in only new vehicles go? And these days I only get Indicas and if I am lucky I get a Dzire. Gone are the days of getting a spanking new Etios and bigger cars like Ciaz, Ertiga and so.
• Somehow the new cars seemed to have jumped to Ola. Though I primarily used Uber, I tried Ola twice and I got a nice Etios and a Dzire, both well kept.
• Yesterday, I found a cab with its driver running on both Ola and Uber at the same time. When I called him he responded "Saar Ola" and then I had to remind him that I had booked on Uber. When I get into the cab I see the Ola play device installed. The most shocking part was that this guy was Lokesh on Uber and Ramesh on Ola. How the hell did that happen?
• I heard from drivers that Uber driver numbers are reducing and now they have only older cars running on them.

If I open the OLX app, the home page is full of used yellow board vehicles. The typical characteristics of these cars are close to insurance expiry or already expired, FC due etc. Some have listed it smartly at a low price of say 1L or 2L and state that the buyer pay the rest of the EMIs on the car.

Maybe its my presumption, but on the roads there used to be a huge sea of cabs a few months back, which isnt so on the routes I commute. Hence, I guess the bubble has burst and the cab scene is settling down. I rarely see ads from OLA or UBER recruiting drivers.

And a few local groups in Bangalore had made plans to launch their own apps and run cab services. Maybe they realised what kind of a high they were on when they made that statement. Not saying its impossible, but from where this statement came from, I can safely say that they were highly optimistic.

[carboy]

Does Ola allow pickups? I have to take some relatives somewhere - can I call a cab & then take the cab to their place (2 km away) & then go to the destination?

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by carboy

Does Ola allow pickups? I have to take some relatives somewhere - can I call a cab & then take the cab to their place (2 km away) & then go to the destination?

Uber is better in this sense; it allows you to add a stop. When you are booking a cab, look for the "+" sign next to where you mention pick up/drop.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Uber is better in this sense; it allows you to add a stop. When you are booking a cab, look for the "+" sign next to where you mention pick up/drop.

I don't have Uber. Does Ola allow stops?

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by audioholic

.....
Maybe its my presumption, but on the roads there used to be a huge sea of cabs a few months back, which isnt so on the routes I commute. Hence, I guess the bubble has burst and the cab scene is settling down. I rarely see ads from OLA or UBER recruiting drivers.....

Anecdotal evidence, heard mostly from my office cabbies & transport admins and I've mentioned it before in this or a similar thread.

Plenty of corporate cabbies who went away to join Ola/Uber are beginning to trickle back, at least those that value stability and reasonably assured income over the chaos of app-based aggregators.

Some smart ones managed their finances during the high incentive period to save money or pay off debts, but there are plenty who went crazy with the sudden influx of cash and are worse off than before financially.

Don't have data to claim the bubble has burst, but the scene seems to be stabilizing.

[OrangeCar]

Bengalureans will now be able to choose yet another cab aggregator. Its called, Namma TYGR (Namma/Our Tiger!).

The app is launched by Janata Dal (Secular) supremo and former Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswami (shame on you if aren't applauding yet!).

Apparently, Mr. Kumaraswami was heart wrenched when he heard stories of OLA/Uber drivers struggling, when they cut down on incentives. He decided to help these drivers out by bringing in his own app. It was to be called Namma HDK app, but he decided otherwise. (HDK - Tiger, are pretty much synonymous! So, its okay.). The inspiration seems to come straight from Elon Musk, HDK saw a problem and started his own business venture.

Please note, this initiative has nothing to do with the upcoming Karnataka state assembly elections. Yes. This is similar to the sudden and shoddy filling of potholes all across Bengaluru to be considered as performance of a dynamic state government, and not its attempt to douse rising anger before elections.

The cab operator is going to start with about 5000 cabs (how many of these will stop operating on other platforms is a million dollar question). The next phase will see addition of over 10,000 cabs.

There is no surge pricing. 12.50/- per km for hatchbacks, 14.50/- for sedans.

In essence, foreign investor money will not be used to establish the operations. But hard earned, honest money (ahem ahem!!) will be source of establishing the operations. Truly, Made in India!

Billion dollar question will be, will the company be able to establish operations and run them for a long period of time? Any guesses. (No. Do not think that continuation of operations after May-2018 does not matter since elections would be over. Such manner of thinking is ridiculous).

In any case, as times evolve, newer methods of luring voters (instead of the old style of handing over crisp notes at rallies) by providing them incentives could be seen.

This post is not intended to be against any new or old cab aggregator or a political party. Any hint of sarcasm in the post, is only in your imagination.

News articles - http://www.news18.com/news/politics/...a-1589295.html

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/60788431.cms

App in Android store - https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...grdriver&hl=en

5 star rating of the app even before it being used is an indication of the eagerness with which drivers and riders are waiting for it to be launched. Please ignore comments by users, such as Kummarannanige Jai (hail our big brother Kummaraswamy!)

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by OrangeCar

Please note, this initiative has nothing to do with the upcoming Karnataka state assembly elections. Yes. This is similar to the sudden and shoddy filling of potholes all across Bengaluru to be considered as performance of a dynamic state government, and not its attempt to douse rising anger before elections.

In any case, as times evolve, newer methods of luring voters (instead of the old style of handing over crisp notes at rallies) by providing them incentives could be seen.

I think the intentions are not so clean as they claim. As highlighted in your post itself, its a cleaner way of pumping money to people and campaigning for the elections through this service. IMHO, this will go off topic, but is a brilliant idea to gain hefty votes.

Enroll drivers, pay them incentives and bonuses. They all go to their native places and trumpet about the same. All these people will act as campaigners and spread good words about their boss. Since most of the cabbies are from rural areas who go to their homes every week or two, this is a fantastic way to campaign.

That apart, I have no hopes on the quality of service offered by this setup. Led by Unions and parties, they will have their own way of functioning and policy making compared to the kind of environment Ola or Uber will have. The startup will have a tough time dealing with such partners and will have no control over the drivers. Curious to try out their app.

[doxinboy]

Originally Posted by OrangeCar

Please note, this initiative has nothing to do with the upcoming Karnataka state assembly elections.

I think this discussion is offtopic. I hope you are sarcastic here.

I completely agree with the previous poster, who brilliantly analyzed the difference between the politically backed aggregator and the Uber/Ola business model.

[deehunk]

Originally Posted by OrangeCar

Bengalureans will now be able to choose yet another cab aggregator. Its called, Namma TYGR (Namma/Our Tiger!).

The app is launched by Janata Dal (Secular) supremo and former Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy.

I installed the app today from Google Play store, later filled all the details to create an account. The verification of mobile number was supposed to happen by an OTP, here is when I noticed that the OTP was moved to my blocked caller/messenger list. How is this possible? I was creating the account for the first time today. I suspect it is a fake app.