[TSIched'Out]

While Uber is partly responsible for this incident as it did not take any action when the accused driver was already reported for his strange behavior about a week ago, I think it is the system's fault that such kind of persons get into public services.

The need of the hour is to have a country wide offenders registry (sexual and others) which can be used for quick and periodic verifications by various service providers. We already have Aadhar Numbers for majority of the population. And Police stations in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities are already using computers for Passport/FIRs processing. All they need is to enter accused's Aadhar Number into the system while registering FIR (If accused doesn't provide that, they can scan his/her Iris and fingerprints to find out Aadhar Number). If CIBIL registry can work for financial services on the basis of PAN, Offenders registry based on Aadhar can also work against these culprits.

Government should use Rs 1000 Crores of Nirbhaya Fund (lying unused since last one year) to create such a registry. Once up and running, it will not only avoid entry of unscrupulous persons into public system but will also deter the existing ones who now have the impression that all they have to do is commit crime in Mathura and start a new business in Delhi. After all prevention is better than cure.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by poloman

. The airport convenience charge is a common practice all over the world. If you hire a rental car from airport, it will be costlier by many notches due to this charge.

You are right. But you are allowed to rent a car from the city, instead of airport. Its a choice. The choice of the consumer to wait. If the consumer is okay to stand outside and wait for the taxi to arrive, and save money, its their right.
If you can't wait, you pay extra and take the cab.
For example, before app based services, I called a radio cab from the airport. Had to wait 30 minutes, but I paid 12/km instead of 25/km
Simple.
How does using an app make the whole thing different.

[Nats]

Uber definitely has deep roots in the system.
How can the govt. not know about the 40 billion company operating in India

[poloman]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

You are right. But you are allowed to rent a car from the city, instead of airport. Its a choice. The choice of the consumer to wait. If the consumer is okay to stand outside and wait for the taxi to arrive, and save money, its their right.
If you can't wait, you pay extra and take the cab.
For example, before app based services, I called a radio cab from the airport. Had to wait 30 minutes, but I paid 12/km instead of 25/km
Simple.
How does using an app make the whole thing different.

This is the angle from a consumer. How about the viewpoints from a fellow cabbie, Airport authority and the regulator? If you allow autos in airport you may get a still better rate. I have a personal car and I can offer you pick up and drop at 7/Km. But are all these things legal? These taxis have no place to park and they crowd around the NH7 near the airport. My question is why can't Uber just like any other airport cab pay the airport convenience charges and still offer cheaper rides to customer? I have taken Uber, Meru and local taxi from airport. The difference has been 100Rs with Uber the cheapest and Meru the costliest. I even tipped the local cab guy, Still he almost matched Uber rates.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by poloman

This is the angle from a consumer. How about the viewpoints from a fellow cabbie, Airport authority and the regulator? If you allow autos in airport you may get a still better rate. I have a personal car and I can offer you pick up and drop at 7/Km. But are all these things legal? These taxis have no place to park and they crowd around the NH7 near the airport. My question is why can't Uber just like any other airport cab pay the airport convenience charges and still offer cheaper rides to customer?

That is a different issue. If a taxi is parked on NH7 in a no parking zone(whether uber or otherwise), fine it.
As for fellow cabbie, he also has a choice of not being at the airport. Everyone has a choice.
Where do we draw the line. Should we ban mobile operators who are offering cheaper rate for 2G data, as 3G providers will suffer?

[srameshdelhi]

Originally Posted by djpeesh

As a mere user of Uber (and a frequent one I confess), I agree that Uber operates on the fringes of the law. In India, they seem to have a stronger case since they use already registered tourist cabs as their service providers.

This is infact making their case weaker and got it banned in Delhi. Tourist cabs are not supposed to do point-to-point City service. Only Radio cabs can do this. This is as per Indian MV Act. Atleast Delhi follows this. No idea about other cities. Many MV Act rules are not implemented in some cities. E.g. Helmet for 2 wheelers, Seat Belt., etc. Some one can comment about point-to-point rule in other cities like Bangalore, Mumbai etc.

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by poloman

By parking outside Airport, Uber can deduct 100Rs from the bill which is beneficial for the customer. But what will happen if tomorrow all cabs decide they will park outside the airport premises and will come to airport only if you book a ride.

Why are these clowns not getting fined for parking on the road?

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by poloman

This is the angle from a consumer. How about the viewpoints from a fellow cabbie, Airport authority and the regulator? If you allow autos in airport you may get a still better rate. I have a personal car and I can offer you pick up and drop at 7/Km. But are all these things legal? These taxis have no place to park and they crowd around the NH7 near the airport. My question is why can't Uber just like any other airport cab pay the airport convenience charges and still offer cheaper rides to customer?

This is a pointless argument. In Mumbai airport even if you have a car and a driver you will ask the driver to wait outside the airport rather than park if it's just a pickup or drop. Same in Bangalore. If my driver is picking me up I just tell him to reach a few mins late and wait near the trumpet.

The parking charges is Rs.90 in Bangalore. For the convenience of the passengers, the airport has tied up with few cab agencies. Now that doesn't mean all cab agencies need to tie up. If someone doesn't tie up why should they have to pay extra fees.

We already have archaic laws and you're basically saying that they should levy more charges to the public.

I used to take a cab from the prepaid stand in Mumbai as well as Bangalore. Mumbai charges convenience fees and Bangalore I don't remember.

Ever since Uber I don't even walk towards the taxi stand. Just book a cab from the app while deplaning and by the time I'm outside the driver is waiting.

I took a prepaid taxi once in Mumbai and the guy refused to drop me exactly where I wanted to go inside Bandra. He said you told Bandra so I will drop at the start of Bandra. You need to pay 100 more if I have to go inside Bandra.

[poloman]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

That is a different issue. If a taxi is parked on NH7 in a no parking zone(whether uber or otherwise), fine it.
As for fellow cabbie, he also has a choice of not being at the airport. Everyone has a choice.
Where do we draw the line. Should we ban mobile operators who are offering cheaper rate for 2G data, as 3G providers will suffer?

This is exactly the problem Uber is facing in some western cities. They are being mercilessly towed away and fined where ever they enter illegally . But in India sadly even after a horrific rape we debate whether Uber should adhere to guidelines.
If Uber follow every guideline issued by transport authority and still offer discounts that is great. But if they milk the loopholes in the system and try to blame everyone else other than themselves, that is just asking for trouble. Banning is only temporary till they adhere to the guidelines.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

This is a pointless argument. In Mumbai airport even if you have a car and a driver you will ask the driver to wait outside the airport rather than park if it's just a pickup or drop. Same in Bangalore. If my driver is picking me up I just tell him to reach a few mins late and wait near the trumpet.

Perfectly legal since this is your personal car. If every cab driver starts hanging around outside the airport, imagine the chaos what is going to follow. I am not saying this is illegal. But this goes against an orderly system in high security areas like airports.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by poloman

Perfectly legal since this is your personal car. If every cab driver starts hanging around outside the airport, imagine the chaos what is going to follow. I am not saying this is illegal. But this goes against an orderly system in high security areas like airports.

How is it illegal if the cab driver waits but ok for the personal car driver to wait on the road? If it's a no parking area neither should be allowed right?

Secondly go to any airport in the US. Almost a mile away from the airport they have a free parking or a cheap $1 waiting area. Why can't the government do something like this to ensure cars don't wait outside a high security airport.

What if cars and cabs every vehicle needs to pay to even enter the airport. Then you will automatically see passengers walking to the point where they charge and taking cabs or their own cars.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by poloman

But in India sadly even after a horrific rape we debate whether Uber should adhere to guidelines.
If Uber follow every guideline issued by transport authority and still offer discounts that is great. But if they milk the loopholes in the system and try to blame everyone else other than themselves, that is just asking for trouble. Banning is only temporary till they adhere to the guidelines.

If there are loopholes in the system, then the authorities are to be blamed and not the smart guy who found it in the first place.

And how does uber or someone else for that matter following guidelines prevent rape? Banning uber and other cabs is similar to bannign all the schools in bangalore because there was a rape in one.

If you want to prevent crime, start convicting culprits and impose strict punishments. But no, we will concentrate on uber not paying taxes and kill another customer friendly business. We are Indians, following guidelines matter to us, rape doesn't.

[pratyush6]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

We are Indians, following guidelines matter to us, rape doesn't.

The step only has been taken as the Govt. wants to be seen to doing something, thats it.

However, I read something very damning on Uber today - it seems as if it has not verified any drivers in Delhi. If this is true then Uber should really have it.
I took a couple of rides yesterday and one today - all the drivers seemed to be very apprehensive about the future.

[Aditya]

Uber, the web based taxi service has been banned in Hyderabad and Maharashtra following an advisory issued by the centre.

While the Joint Transport Commissioner of Hyderabad has stated that Uber has not obtained a licence to operate as a cab service in the city, the Government of Maharashtra has gone one step further and banned all web based taxi services including OLA with immediate effect.

Link to Team-BHP News Article

[sdp1975]

The poor taxi drivers will face the biggest brunt of the Uber ban. They all have car loans and EMIs to pay. They will also face police harrassment and arbitrariness after this incident.

The cab owners claimed that Uber was fair in its dealings with them and rendered customer-friendly service. “It is very popular among cab owners for its fair dealings and its business is growing at a great pace. While the other companies seek high commission and delay payments for two to three months, the Uber makes weekly payments. The cab owners attached to some cab services with call centres need to bribe the management to seek work, but the technology used by Uber is such that all cab owners are treated equally. It is also very popular among customers as well,” said Jabbar Ali, who has been attached with Uber for nearly a year now.

The agitated cab owners will hold a protest if the ban is not lifted.


Source : http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/...cle6678428.ece

[JoseVijay]

I would like to share a few reports from TOI

Source link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...n=TOIHyderabad

HYDERABAD: Uber has been operating in Hyderabad without permission. Ironically, neither transport department officials nor police have any clue about how many such cab service facilitators are operating in the city.

Startling facts came to light when TOI conducted an enquiry about how many third party transport service providers like Uber were operating from Hyderabad following the incident of an Uber cab driver raping a female executive in Delhi.

Joint transport commissioner of Hyderabad, T Raghunath, told TOI, "Uber has not obtained permission from the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) to operate or facilitate taxi or cab service in the city. So, if such transport services are being provided or facilitated by Uber in city, they are illegal."

The senior RTA official also said that as Uber had not taken permission, they were unaware of the operations of this cab provider in city. "We do not know anything about Uber's operations. We are also unaware of how many such operators are providing services in Hyderabad. We are now gathering information," the JTC said.

After the Uber incident, the Cyberabad police, who had handled a similar case involving a taxi driver, have decided to summon representatives of cab/taxi service providers or facilitators like Uber, Ola cabs and Taxi for Sure to enquire into their exact operations.

"We are calling representatives of the third party taxi or cab service providers to get details about their operations. We do not know whether the cabs provided by operators like Uber have required permission from the RTA. There are several more details that need to be gathered from them," Cyberabad police commissioner CV Anand said.

Following the techie abduction and rape case, the Cyberabad police had launched a massive cab registration drive. "So far, 13,000 cabs and drivers operating in our jurisdiction have completed registration formalities and about 6,000 cabs were already issued 'I am safe' stickers with unique identification code," Cyberabad traffic DCP Avinash Mohanty said.

So far, police have carried out cab registration drive only for operators who have permission from the RTA. "We are waiting for a response from the RTA. If we get a confirmation from the RTA saying that certain cab service provider or facilitator is operating illegally, we will carry out enforcement work accordingly," Hyderabad police commissioner M Mahendar Reddy told TOI.

Later in the evening, transport commissioner M Jagadeeswar issued an advisory urging citizens not to avail services of Uber, which has not obtained any permission from RTA, Telangana. "All enforcement staff of RTA have been directed to check the unauthorized practices of private cab operators, including Uber," the commissioner said.