[shankar.balan]

I was talking to someone in Dubai last week.
Apparently UBER has an over riding Insurance understanding with country specific Insurance service providers, to overcome the problem I had earlier highlighted in a post on this thread.

Typically as a Private car owner one is not allowed to ferry people or goods for commercial gain. One is also not allowed to participate in drag racing or racing or adventure sports because in the event of an accident, the Insurer is well within their rights to decline responsibility.

So in effect, as a private owner/ driver, if one takes a passenger out for personal gain, then the insurer is well within their rights (in the event of an accident involving loss of life or limb or whatever) to decline their responsibilities.

To obviate this issue, I am given to understand that UBER has this over riding arrangement with an Insurer, which looks to protect the passenger in the event of such unhappy occurrence.

Saying that, I am not sure which insurer they have tied up with in India for such cover.

It would certainly be interesting to know!

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I was talking to someone in Dubai last week.
Apparently UBER has an over riding Insurance understanding with country specific Insurance service providers, to overcome the problem I had earlier highlighted in a post on this thread.


Saying that, I am not sure which insurer they have tied up with in India for such cover.

It would certainly be interesting to know!

I had raised a query to uber asking exactly this some time back. They responded after 2 weeks and the answer had no relation to my question. Just that ubercommute is a service for private vehicles.

So I assume even if they have such an understanding, it could be a behind the scenes internal agreement? If an insurer modifies the agreement publicly, it could be misused a great deal.

[sbala]

Registered for Uber Commute couple of weeks back and got the access last week. Today was the day to try the Uber commute Partner App.

I switched ON the app today morning around 10.30 AM and started to Office which is in Sarjapur Outer Ring Road Bangalore. After 10 mins, I started getting alert from the Uber Partner App on a ride request which i gladly accepted. Luckily he was on the same road that i take daily to reach office. I went to his location and waited for him. He walked towards the car with a surprise look. He got into the car and asked me whether it is a premium service. Then, i had to explain him about Uber commute.

We started talking about traffic, work etc. and after some time he reminded me that i have to click on "Start Trip" option as he has not got an update that his trip has started. Only then, i realized about that and pressed that button on the app. Fare calculation starts only after i click on Start Trip. I dropped him near his office and reached mine.


Overall, It worked like a charm.

[Turbanator]

something in Canada on Insurance , hope local guys also take a cue and come some similar plans

The goal is to cover the gap between personal car insurance policies and commercial ones; once you drive your vehicle for money, like picking up people and driving them around, you have left the realm of using your vehicle for personal reasons and your insurance changes.

http://driving.ca/auto-news/news/uber-insurance

[TejashM]

i use Bla Bla Car to offer rides on my Mumbai Pune trips. Wonder what stance would our insurance companies take? Anyone has any experience with Bla Bla Cars? Me thinks its a wonderful platform.

[Dieseltuned]

Originally Posted by TejashM

i use Bla Bla Car to offer rides on my Mumbai Pune trips. Wonder what stance would our insurance companies take? Anyone has any experience with Bla Bla Cars? Me thinks its a wonderful platform.

Good to know that somebody is using this platform, I had a few queries if you would be kind to answer ::

1. How do you guess/know that the person asking for a ride is a genuine one and not a thug ?
2. Is there any way of verifying credentials ? Do you ask them for an ID or something ?
3. Do you check what all things they are carrying with them ? This platform though useful could be very easily misused and you being an owner of the car would be held fully liable.
4. Do you have a private registration or a commercial registered vehicle ?
5. What does bla bla car offer in case of any eventuality ? Do they cover insurance / breakdown / theft / misuse ? Do they gaurantee that all their registered users are genuine ?

I for one would not let a stranger any where near my car. My Personal opinion, but your experiences could be very helpful, Kindly share them here

Regards
Diseltuned

[TejashM]

Originally Posted by Dieseltuned

Good to know that somebody is using this platform, I had a few queries if you would be kind to answer ::

1. How do you guess/know that the person asking for a ride is a genuine one and not a thug ?
2. Is there any way of verifying credentials ? Do you ask them for an ID or something ?
3. Do you check what all things they are carrying with them ? This platform though useful could be very easily misused and you being an owner of the car would be held fully liable.
4. Do you have a private registration or a commercial registered vehicle ?
5. What does bla bla car offer in case of any eventuality ? Do they cover insurance / breakdown / theft / misuse ? Do they gaurantee that all their registered users are genuine ?

I for one would not let a stranger any where near my car. My Personal opinion, but your experiences could be very helpful, Kindly share them here

Regards
Diseltuned

Wow, I never thought of all these things.

1. I am assuming that Bla Bla car verifies the members, with their FB account, email address and cell number. Since the platform is relatively new, many users have no ratings to fall back on. Which is why I make it a point to rate each and every co passenger. ??
2. I never asked for an id, but now that you mention it, looks like fair to ask for one.
3. So, there is no "security check" for their luggage.
4. Private registered vehicle.
5. Bla Bla Car is a bit vague here which is why I asked other learned people on this platform. Apparently in Europe, the payment goes through their gateway and hence there is a bit more control / responsibility on their part.

Yep, its kind of tough to allow strangers into your car. But let me tell you this. In the last 5 - 6 months, I have not had a single bad experience. I have had a total of 16 co passengers and each one has been quite nice. In fact many girls / women also offer rides in their cars or are willing to join you as a co passenger. Mumbai Pune gets me a lot of techies from all over India. Very good way to understand different cultures.



Regards


Tejash

[Aston Singh]

Originally Posted by TejashM

i use Bla Bla Car to offer rides on my Mumbai Pune trips. Wonder what stance would our insurance companies take? Anyone has any experience with Bla Bla Cars? Me thinks its a wonderful platform.

This thought has crossed my mind a couple of times cause I do Pune-Mumbai quite often on weekends and that too all by myself but I've refrained myself from giving it a shot because of safety reasons obviously. It's really difficult to trust people these days and you never know what might happen.
Looking at the positive feedback, it's good to know that it's been a smooth ride for you in the past 5-6 months and I might just give it a shot if I'm able to convince myself that it's "safe to a certain extent".

On a different note, what's the average per person ride charges?

[TejashM]

Originally Posted by Aston Singh

On a different note, what's the average per person ride charges?

400 bucks does the trick. Most "luxury" buses charge 450 - 500. A car is any day faster and comfortable. I mention the route which makes it easier for everyone. I also enforce a strict seat belt policy for front and rear passengers. Many have appreciated this.

Do the math. Petrol plus toll = 1,100. 3 co passenger @ 400 = 1,200. Your ride is FOC.

On the aside, I buy my co passengers Vada Pav at Datta's

[devilicious]

On the aside, I buy my co passengers Vada Pav at Datta's

That was the best part of the message.

[mpksuhas]

A similar experience mentioned by a person in Delhi which I came across on internet. An interesting read.

Link

[jkrishnakj]

Here's my experience.

This thread did motivate me to get the Uber Commute. I drive all the way from JP Nagar to Bagmane Tech world, a distance of 24 KM's each way, almost 4 days a week. I thought it makes sense to do this, give the size of my car and the wisdom that i can do something to the environment.

The downloading of the app, setting it up, setting up details worked like a charm and no hassles at all.

I had the app for a week or so, and it took me one full week to talk myself into turning it on.

First 4 days, nothing happened. 5th day - i had an alert and the phone gave me the alert sound. By the time i could understand what it was, the user had cancelled the ride.

The following week, i found one user who wanted to go from Jayanagar. It was only a 2 KM off route for me, and i was ok. The user was a bit awed and turns out that he works from the same Tech park. Good conversations, and we hit it off. Good ride. I could do the Trip Start and Trip end and all worked well.

Two days later, i had one more user, from HSR layout. Was right on my way itself with no detours and i was glad. There was this girl, whom i had to commute with. Had to call the number, confirm that she was indeed the person who wanted the ride. She opened the back door, zero conversations. I requested her to buckle up and i was given a stern look to just mind my business. In about 10 minutes, out came an apple, and a sandwich that she happily munched along. When we were about to reach the destination, she insisted i go right inside the tech park near bellandur and drop her right off her organisations entry gate. Though its only 2 KM's or so, for those familiar with the Ecospace situation can relate to what i was thinking.

This experience changed my thought process. I was a bit cross with myself - for some reason, as much as i wanted not to think about it, but i was thinking that i got treated like the run of the mill cab driver.

Ever since, i havent switched on the Uber Partner app yet.

[fine69]

I had partially signed with Uber (document upload pending) just to see how it works but the link shared in the above post was something which I had read earlier and decided to let it go.

To date I continue to receive SMS from UBERIN that I shouldn't forget to share my ride, almost 2-3 texts everyday.

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

but i was thinking that i got treated like the run of the mill cab driver.

Same reason why I never went through with it. I enjoy my home-office-home commute because I have a good ICE setup and sharing the ride means playing the driver and as such drivers aren't given much respect in Delhi.

But what I dread the most is if somebody comes with a big suitcase because whatever small space there is, is occupied by the huge sub and amp. I also like to keep my car clean and there can be folks with kids who might simply ruin the car interiors.

[funkmeister]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Here's my experience.

This thread did motivate me to get the Uber Commute. I drive all the way from JP Nagar to Bagmane Tech world, a distance of 24 KM's each way, almost 4 days a week. I thought it makes sense to do this, give the size of my car and the wisdom that i can do something to the environment.

The downloading of the app, setting it up, setting up details worked like a charm and no hassles at all.

I had the app for a week or so, and it took me one full week to talk myself into turning it on.

First 4 days, nothing happened. 5th day - i had an alert and the phone gave me the alert sound. By the time i could understand what it was, the user had cancelled the ride.

The following week, i found one user who wanted to go from Jayanagar. It was only a 2 KM off route for me, and i was ok. The user was a bit awed and turns out that he works from the same Tech park. Good conversations, and we hit it off. Good ride. I could do the Trip Start and Trip end and all worked well.

Two days later, i had one more user, from HSR layout. Was right on my way itself with no detours and i was glad. There was this girl, whom i had to commute with. Had to call the number, confirm that she was indeed the person who wanted the ride. She opened the back door, zero conversations. I requested her to buckle up and i was given a stern look to just mind my business. In about 10 minutes, out came an apple, and a sandwich that she happily munched along. When we were about to reach the destination, she insisted i go right inside the tech park near bellandur and drop her right off her organisations entry gate. Though its only 2 KM's or so, for those familiar with the Ecospace situation can relate to what i was thinking.

This experience changed my thought process. I was a bit cross with myself - for some reason, as much as i wanted not to think about it, but i was thinking that i got treated like the run of the mill cab driver.

Ever since, i havent switched on the Uber Partner app yet.

I had a similar experience like you had with the girl when using the Uber Partner program. So i turned on the app, and got a notification of a guy opting to ride with me. I call him up, figure out the pick up location and reach him. He opens the back door to enter and I tell him that he can sit with me in the front as this is not a cab service but a car pooling thing. He declines and sits at the back while playing with his phone. I tried to make conversation but then with the one line answers i figured he might not be interested in talking with a 'cabbie'. What i felt awkward was when he asked me to stop at a roadside shop and wait for him while he went to get his ciggies. I let it slide thinking that he might not know how this thing works and ended the ride a couple of minutes later.

Would i go for the app again? Hoping this experience is a one time thing, i might try it again and see what kind of fellow travellers I might be getting.

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Here's my experience.
This experience changed my thought process. I was a bit cross with myself - for some reason, as much as i wanted not to think about it, but i was thinking that i got treated like the run of the mill cab driver.
Ever since, i havent switched on the Uber Partner app yet.

Originally Posted by funkmeister

Would i go for the app again? Hoping this experience is a one time thing, i might try it again and see what kind of fellow travellers I might be getting.

Had a general query, when the driver gets a notification about a pick up, is the rating of that person visible to the driver? I guess the driver also has the option of giving lower ratings. You guys could have done that, a short and sweet revenge.