[kiku007]

Can someone develop an Mobile App like Cleartrip that lists all available Radio Cabs in the location I request for, along with a fare card, and then either direct me to the respective cab's App or better still, enable booking.

I'm tired of firing up three different apps and within them, minimum of two different categories of cabs to find a damn cab.

I see a Business Opportunity here. Anyone?

[balajisv]

Originally Posted by kiku007

Can someone develop an Mobile App like Cleartrip that lists all available Radio Cabs in the location I request for, along with a fare card, and then either direct me to the respective cab's App or better still, enable booking.

I'm tired of firing up three different apps and within them, minimum of two different categories of cabs to find a damn cab.

I see a Business Opportunity here. Anyone?

+1
Now there is a real need for an aggregator app for these car aggregator services!

I'm aware of someone who is working on this idea already!!

[Babuda]

Used Uber X in Kolkata half a dozen times over the past one week. All the cars were Dzire Tours with a single exception of an old Ford Fiesta. Found their service to be pretty good. They have also launched UberGO recently with hatchbacks, but it's almost next to impossible to get cars - too few I guess.

[venuvedam]

So Uber has finally pulled the plug on Indian credit cards. Now they support only PayTM wallet.

[hrman]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

But why limit the '6 hours'? Also, it will sort of encourage the driver to take shorter trips, wouldn't it?

I purposefully did not enter a destination in the app. After getting the cab assigned, it didn't move for 15 mins! I call up to ask if he is coming. First thing the guy asks, coming sir, where do you want to go?

A team can perform only as well as its worst performer. Here the drivers are essentially the same - only thing that's changed probably, is the way they get business. It might have been through the neighborhood's biggest travel agent earlier, now its through these apps.

+1. It will be sad if Uber drivers start resorting to these cheap tactics to get more revenue. I think you should send an email to their customer service. Let them find a way to plug this.

[puchoo]

Yep , woke up to the email this morning informing me to sign up for Paytm account , and that no indian credit cards would work from now on.

A bit silly in my opinion , i know they are very keen on providing the best experience possible and for Uber that is a 1 step process but why that would lead to the complete denial of other payment mechanisms is not something i understand - let options be available and let people choose what they want , if they choose Paytm then good , if they choose a credit card and have no problems with a few extra steps then so be it

I have not had the best experience with Uber anyway so this is just going to keep me away from them , Ola is coming up as a good option , had the opportunity to try out their app yesterday - got a car in 5 minutes and if all else fails will always call Meru.

Originally Posted by venuvedam

So Uber has finally pulled the plug on Indian credit cards. Now they support only PayTM wallet.

[JoseVijay]

Originally Posted by venuvedam

So Uber has finally pulled the plug on Indian credit cards. Now they support only PayTM wallet.

Uber finally agrees to comply with RBI regulations.

Source link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/t...w/45331988.cms

Taxi hailing service Uber sharply criticized Indian rules that require two-step authentication of credit card transactions and sought 45 more days to comply with the central bank's directive on the issue.

On the backfoot after the Reserve Bank of India said customers could not be charged directly on their credit cards, Uber tied up earlier this month with mobile wallet provider Paytm but is complaining that the two-factor authentication is a sub-optimal way of doing business.

"While this requirement is intended to provide more security for consumers, it is an antiquated solution that is cumbersome for consumers and stifling for businesses across India," the company said in a blog post.

"We are going to comply with the norms. While its expensive and hard on us as it hurts the riders and partner drivers, we wanted to do the right thing," said Eric Alexander, head of business at Uber Asia.

Uber, in its blog post, described the requirement of two-factor authentication as "unnecessary and burdensome," but said it had "constructive discussions" with the RBI and is "committed to working with the Indian government to advance regulations that support innovation and job creation."

Uber is upping the ante in India, one of its most important markets, citing the business-friendly image of the Narendra Modi government, saying it is eager to "assist in creating Indian government policies that encourage economic growth, spur foreign direct investment and facilitate job creation." Uber is squaring off against Olacabs, a taxi aggregator founded by IIT-Bombay graduates Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati. The Bangalore-based company last month raised $210 million (Rs 1,300 crore) in a round led by Softbank, giving it the financial muscle to establish itself as the market leader in India.

Uber says that under its tie-up with Paytm, users can have a mobile wallet in which they can store money to be paid after a ride. The Paytm wallet is linked with debit cards, credit cards and net banking.

Passengers will no longer be able to pay directly using credit cards, a senior executive of the San Francisco-based company said.

Uber, which was valued at $17 billion in its last round of funding earlier this year, is expanding rapidly around the world but also facing opposition from many governments and taxi operators from Bangkok to Berlin where the authorities have declared the service to be illegal.

Just last week, Uber was forced to stop operations in the US state of Nevada and a court in Paris will decide in a few days whether the company is complying with regulations.

In India, too, Uber has run up against radio taxi operators who complained that the app illegally charged customers' credit cards without going through a layer of authentication mandated by the central bank. The Reserve Bank of India agreed with their contention and set November 30 as the deadline for mandatory use of two-step authentication of transactions.

Uber has been giving discounts and even free rides to incentivise users to move to the wallet. Typically these discounts are for new customers, but Uber started free rides for all customers during November 24-30.

At least three Uber drivers ET spoke to said they saw a sharp spike in bookings after the offer. "We used to get about five bookings a day. But with the free ride offer, our bookings daily have shot to about 10-12, with an average daily earning of Rs 3,000 this week," said Vishnu Kumar, a Delhi-based Uber driver.

Paytm also saw wallet downloads increase. "We saw tremendous increase in downloads in over 3 digit percentages. It has also increased our wallet usage as not all rides were under Rs 300," said Amit Lakhotia, vice-president for business at Paytm.

The Paytm official declined to disclose the number of downloads.

But even with this spurt, Uber is expected to see a number of customers drop off as it changes the payment system. "If everyone would have converted, this would have been a no-brainer decision. But this has been gut-wrenching because it has significant impact on our user base," said Alexander.

[i10]

The current switch is a half baked one. They sent me an email with instructions on how to add the wallet from my app - but guess what, Windows Phone users don't exist to them. I still get an option to add a credit card, but no mention of PayTM. Am I supposed to buy a new phone to use their service?

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by JoseVijay

Uber finally agrees to comply with RBI regulations.

Source link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/t...w/45331988.cms

The tone of the blog is as if they are doing great service to humanity.
The fact of the matter is that credit card payment without any additional authentication is so antiquated in today's world.

When mobile apps of all the e-commerce companies can be compliant to 2 factor authentication what is the big deal.

There were many choices before uber such as giving option for IMPS , Credit Card using 2nd factor authentication and mobile wallet but since they do not want app specific to India and they are going mobile wallet way rather then finding out how to trigger the 2nd factor auth.

[balajisv]

Took Ola this afternoon. The driver started his rant the moment I told the drop is to ITPL.
On way, he cribbed about how his own 'travel agency' is in distress due to Olas and Ubers. He said he used to happily charge customers Rs.750-800 for a distance 40km/4 hours and now his customers have taken to new services available at less than half of his rates!
He was very upset on his 2 drivers quitting him who joined Ola/Uber. He got a call in between and he used all his choicest words to abuse his ex-drivers!
The private taxi agencies have sure taken a double whammy: dwindling local business and exodus of their drivers.

[ant_vas]

When mobile apps of all the e-commerce companies can be compliant to 2 factor authentication what is the big deal.

There were many choices before uber such as giving option for IMPS , Credit Card using 2nd factor authentication and mobile wallet but since they do not want app specific to India and they are going mobile wallet way rather then finding out how to trigger the 2nd factor auth.

Guess they didn't want to have different apps for different countries.

I thought a better solution in India for them would have to been to request OTP for the registered credit card of the customer as soon as the driver indicates reached destination on his device screen. The OTP received on the customers mobile then should be entered on the drivers device to complete the trip.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by amitk26

The tone of the blog is as if they are doing great service to humanity.
The fact of the matter is that credit card payment without any additional authentication is so antiquated in today's world.

The wording of their blog wasn't even positive or humble. It was like we are jerks and we are proud of it! They should be ashamed of themselves.

They are NOT doing India a favor by complying with our local laws. Sorry!

Originally Posted by balajisv

Took Ola this afternoon. The driver started his rant the moment I told the drop is to ITPL.
On way, he cribbed about how his own 'travel agency' is in distress due to Olas and Ubers. He said he used to happily charge customers Rs.750-800 for a distance 40km/4 hours and now his customers have taken to new services available at less than half of his rates!
He was very upset on his 2 drivers quitting him who joined Ola/Uber. He got a call in between and he used all his choicest words to abuse his ex-drivers!
The private taxi agencies have sure taken a double whammy: dwindling local business and exodus of their drivers.

Indeed - I think this is much more welcome. It makes for lower cost of service and more individual ownership by cab drivers themselves.

The fact is that the previous system was inefficient and is being crushed by the relentless march of technology.

Just as PCO operators would have been really pissed at their livelihood losses with RCOM's plans and the ensuing mobile revolution.

I still remember going to PCO at 11pm at night (sometimes till 12) just to call my sister studying in Bhopal in the late 90s. And now ........!

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by ant_vas

Guess they didn't want to have different apps for different countries.

I thought a better solution in India for them would have to been to request OTP for the registered credit card of the customer as soon as the driver indicates reached destination on his device screen. The OTP received on the customers mobile then should be entered on the drivers device to complete the trip.

Well in that case it just shows that Uber should stop tom-toming themselves as technology company rather then a taxi agitator ( their main USP).
After sucessful transformation of Amazon from e-tailer to cloud company it is a fantasy of every new CEO to turn themselves in to a tech company.

Actually speaking they need not have different app as well , The issue was related to payment processing and it should be done as per locale and country of origin of credit card.

It is easily possible in Android ( >95% of Indian market and 85% of world market) to have different payment processing for 208 countries in a single application without much load on device. I assume should not be too difficult in iOS as well.

[salilpawar1]

Originally Posted by kiku007

Can someone develop an Mobile App like Cleartrip that lists all available Radio Cabs in the location I request for, along with a fare card, and then either direct me to the respective cab's App or better still, enable booking.

I'm tired of firing up three different apps and within them, minimum of two different categories of cabs to find a damn cab.

I see a Business Opportunity here. Anyone?

There is an app called TaxiPixi in Delhi which partially solves the problem. Not sure how efficient it is though.

[fine69]

Originally Posted by i10

I do see Delhi as an option on their website. They have a form one needs to fill to book.

Booked an auto at their website today but as expected, no phone call, no sms, no email! I don't think the delhi auto guys would be willing to try out this honest model where they go strictly by the meter.