[boniver]

Originally Posted by digitalnirvana

That is what my Ola bike driver had told me as well, and he'd cited it as one of the key reasons why he prefers Rapido over Ola bikes (because the RTO amount for a commercial plate is higher than a normal plate)

Rapido's website too does not list a commercial RC as a requirement


https://help.rapido.bike/hc/en-us/ar...apido-Captain-

Bikes were never used as commercial vehicles before, and Rapido is exploiting that grey area. It's only a matter of time before the Govt. takes note of this (they're taking steady strides towards it, as we've seen in the recent Ola case in Bangalore), and forces these aggregators to incorporate the necessary changes (yellow plates for their fleet).

[RedStallion]

Bajaj and Piaggio auto rickshaws in UK as Ola starts service in Liverpool

Source: Overdrive

http://overdrive.in/news-cars-auto/b...-in-liverpool/

[porsche_guy]

Originally Posted by RedStallion

Bajaj and Piaggio auto rickshaws in UK as Ola starts service in Liverpool

Can the Auto rickshaw be legally registered in the UK? Don't you think that it won't be able to meet the emission or even safety norms?

Also, are they being used inside a private property since I don't see any License plate on them

[Thad E Ginathom]

An auto in British weather? I'd rather walk!

[FrodoOfTheShire]

After Ola, the app-based bike-taxi service Rapido is now facing a crackdown by the Karnataka transport department for running an illegal service in the city.

The department has seized at least 170 Rapido bike-taxis, according to a report in ET. A chargesheet is being filed in these cases and the registration certificate of the bikes would also be confiscated, a transport department official said.

Officials said they will also be filing a police complaint against the company.

A few weeks back, the state transport authority had fined Ola Rs 15 lakh for running bike taxis illegally. Ola has since stopped the service but has petitioned the Karnataka High Court against the state transport department for non-issuance of a licence to operate two-wheeler taxis. Ola also sought the banning of all other bike taxi services until such permits are issued.

In February this year, the authority had 200 seized Ola and Rapido bike taxis and asked the two companies to refrain from operating the taxis without prior approval of the government. The department was not satisfied with their response and would be taking legal steps to ensure they stop the operations, said an official.

While the seizure would continue, the department also plans book Rapido for allowing the use of whiteboard two-wheelers for commercial purposes holding it against the Motor Vehicle Act. The official has also asked the drivers to refrain from operating in Rapido platform.

Meanwhile, the state transport authority is expected to levy a penalty on Rapido as it did in the case of Ola on March 25. As the department had seized 250 vehicles attached to Ola, a fine amount of Rs 6,000 was imposed on each vehicle, taking the total fine amount to ₹15 lakh. Officials have the power to levy anywhere between Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 per offence on those who violate the Motor Vehicle Act.

Rapido has not come up with any response to the department’s action so far.

The Karnataka government is still working on the draft guidelines for operations of bike taxis in the state, while states including Rajasthan, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, and Haryana have allowed it.

Meanwhile, bike-taxi services have also faced opposition from cab and auto driver unions, who are now complaining of being threatened by services as they witness downfall in their earning

Source

[drmohitg]

Is this just a case of these companies not greasing the palms of government officials adequately? Or that the politicians are trying to save their vote bank and more importantly their foot soldiers, i.e. auto and cab drivers. Because all said and done, bike taxis is a phenomenal idea.
1. It is cheap and affordable.
2. Faster than other mediums of transport as it can ease through traffic.
3. It can very easily provide you with the last point connectivity as a bike can negotiate nearly every narrow alley which a car/auto would not be able to reach.
4. Last and the most important, it has to be the most environment friendly out of all the options. Is there any data available for the same? My maths says a bike simply offers such high mileage figures that it would beat a car or auto in terms of per km pollution caused.

Then why exactly is the government targeting them? A simple white board yellow board problem is something that the traffic cops can deal with. The same also happens blatantly with cabs. Why is the government so interested in seizing only bikes?

[FrodoOfTheShire]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Then why exactly is the government targeting them? A simple white board yellow board problem is something that the traffic cops can deal with. The same also happens blatantly with cabs. Why is the government so interested in seizing only bikes?

Its not just the bikes they're targeting. Earlier they had targeted the white board cars being used for commercial purposes through ride sharing apps. Although I agree with your points on vote bank and palm greasing.

[Ambersariya87]

Bike taxi is a nice concept but the way these riders drive bike gives me scares. Many a time while driving my car, I have come across these ruthless riders who care nothing about safety. One such incident happened with my colleague where he was badly injured while going home from the metro station on uber Moto.

[lapis_lazuli]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Is this just a case of these companies not greasing the palms of government officials adequately? Or that the politicians are trying to save their vote bank and more importantly their foot soldiers, i.e. auto and cab drivers. Because all said and done, bike taxis is a phenomenal idea.
1. It is cheap and affordable.
2. ... Why is the government so interested in seizing only bikes?

Amazingly well put Doc!



This is actually a brilliant mode of commute. To add, look at the number of people who have started earning, too. Plus, I am seeing even more and more of these having women as passengers. The bikes seem to be actually SAFER for women, given that we have heard driver passenger horror stories involving Uber/Ola cars.

[libranof1987]

Close on their IPOs, there is massive discontent within the drivers of both Uber and Lyft; so much so, that protests have been planned in major cities across the world. Just as we've seen in India, drivers seem to be getting short-changed all over. This mess will get worse once the stocks get listed and shareholders demand return on stock.

Ride-hailing drivers in more than a dozen cities plan to strike on Wednesday ahead of Uber's highly anticipated Wall Street debut.

The strikes are expected to happen across major US cities, as well as parts of the United Kingdom, Australia and South America. Participating drivers say they intend to send a message to Uber and its rivals: They want livable incomes, job security and regulated fares, among other demands.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/07/t...ipo/index.html

[Shreyas Aterkar]

Dear All,

A shocking incident happened with me on 2-May-19 when I booked a cab from BKC to Malad (E), Mumbai. The driver asked me to confirm OTP sent on my no. stating that this is a new process that Ola has started. Unsuspectingly, I did that. I reached the location and the cab got automatically cancelled. After that I was unable to log in to the ola app. I received two emails stating my email id & mobile no linked to the account have been changed and the app was not detecting my registered no. as valid. I realized that the driver has hacked my account. I immediately called up the call center and also wrote to Ola support. I shared the cab no, driver's name and his mobile no., asked them to reinstate my account with my Ola money balance. Also wrote to Bhavish and Ankit but no response yet. Numerous follow ups without any resolution.

Also, I received a call from Ola money a few days back that a transaction from Ola post paid happened on 2nd May. I told them that I do not have Ola post paid, which they acknowledged and said that I need not worry. I hope so.

Ola are you listening? Do you care about customers? I don't think so.

Ola support tickets 171596706, 171593212, 171631254, 171819956

As a safety measure, I have written an application/complaint to the BKC police station so that if any issue happens related to this, I have a proof of having sounded off to the Police.

I know I made a mistake by sharing the OTP, I did not suspect that such a fraud by an Ola driver will be committed. I unsuspectingly did it. I wrote this to make sure that no one else is a victim of such a fraud. Also, I hope that with the help of Team bhp, Ola notices their pathetic customer service and corrects it. For now I have blocked the cards that I had used in the Ola app and stopped using Ola altogether. Is there anything else that I should do?

@ Mods - I was not sure where to post this, so posted it here.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by Shreyas Aterkar

Dear All,

A shocking incident happened with me on 2-May-19 when I booked a cab from BKC to Malad (E), Mumbai. The driver asked me to confirm OTP sent on my no. stating that this is a new process that Ola has started.
I realized that the driver has hacked my account. I immediately called up the call center and also wrote to Ola support.

Can one hack into your Ola account with just that OTP which was generated for the trip and would have been anyways passed on to the driver? Can you please elaborate how did the OTP help the driver hack into your account? And wouldn't this be possible even after you would have shared the same on starting the trip.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Isn't it necessary to give the OTP to the driver? Isn't this how driver/passenger/transaction are confirmed: the right person getting the right driver for the right trip?

My wife is the Ola/Uber user of the family, when her driver (me) is not going to her destination. I use only very occasionally, but I have the impression that this is how it works.

I also have the impression that these services are generally going down hill. One thing is frequent driver cancellations. A week ago, a driver cancelled even after being called to come to the right house when he was parked down the road. Maybe they can still get better opportunities even when they have accepted a trip? Or just that they are not prepared to wait even a few minutes.

[Shreyas Aterkar]

This is not the ride OTP, its the one he told me will be sent by Ola to my registered no. So this is actually an OTP to sign in to the Ola account.

[boniver]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Can one hack into your Ola account with just that OTP which was generated for the trip and would have been anyways passed on to the driver? Can you please elaborate how did the OTP help the driver hack into your account? And wouldn't this be possible even after you would have shared the same on starting the trip.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Isn't it necessary to give the OTP to the driver? Isn't this how driver/passenger/transaction are confirmed: the right person getting the right driver for the right trip?

The driver must have entered Shreyas' number in the Ola App to log into his account. The Ola app sent the OTP to Shreyas and he shared it with the driver, who was able to get access to his account, change his password/phone number and use the money in Ola Wallet.

This is not the trip-starting OTP that Ola normally sends. I'm guessing it would've been difficult for anyone to distinguish between the two when one's preoccupied with getting into the cab.