Team-BHP - Ola & Uber might suffer ban in Karnataka. EDIT: Ola gets KA License

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caramba (Post 3986510)

As I understand that Auto drivers need to get a police verification done for them to get their "badge"/"permit". Why not the same for badges issued to the drivers.

Aggregators are simply that a platform for bringing together individual cabbies who otherwise are the mercy of tour operators or the like for business. This opens up an entire new market to them. So why penalize an aggregator and consequently drivers who clearly are benefitting.

Further, this is a business. Why should the government interfere in pricing. As someone validly pointed out, will they fix the price of vegetables etc.? No one if forcing you to take an Uber or an OLA, if surge pricing does not meet your expectation take an alternate less convenient mode of transport.

By doing this, essentially the government is forcing everyone to charge out at the maximum allowed rate. How does that help anyone?

At the risk of repeating myself, who is forcing consumers who do not want to pay the price to use the service?

Completely agree. I have found Ola and Uber quite useful. After my initial reservation on not using verified taxis, etc and still calling my local cabbie, I found their services and pricing are excellent. The only issue I have faced it they do not offer services on most airports (Delhi/Mumbai international) which is a completely union mafia affair. I had also started with not paying surge fairs but found that on airports taking a taxi from the prepaid section was twice as expensive as the surge fare. My only thought is that they should end the discounted pricing, and quote a reasonable normal fare which should not exceed anytime (kind of MRP). Then they can offer discounts as much as they want and let the riders decide whether they want to use them or not.

About price control by the govt, doesnt it become a essential service and should be within the reach of consumers? Do they fly in air and not use roads and infrastructure ? (dont bring in road tax :) )

Dont we think its wrong if Auto guys refuse to drive to a particular location ? Why fix their rates ?

What about medicines ? Drug manufacturers spend billions on R&D and shouldn't they be able to charge whatever they want ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by deehunk (Post 4036488)

Ola has increased their pricing for Micro effective from midnight yesterday, you may be shocked when you see the total fare today.

While I was in India last month spent a couple of weeks in Bangalore & Kolkata. Uber is way way cheaper currently(am sure its some offer going on).

I was shocked when I was charged only 799 from Airport to Begur road on UBER XL(car was XYLO). Whereas I never paid anything below 1100 ever for even Indicas :eek: . And even an Indica(Uber-Go i think) cost just 599 for the same route. Was some blanket pricing it seems. Airport to anywhere in city 599 & 799.

Even the other way round(Begur to Airport) Etios cost me just 850. This was the cheapest I have ever traveled(in cab) to airport in last 7 years. Even In kolkata the case was similar. OLA was charging atleast 50-60% higher for the minis even compared to the sedans in Uber. clap:

All this ola/uber ban is a bit confusing for me. Basically I cannot fathom the urge of govt to "fix" something.

From my knowledge-
1.ola/uber operate as contract carriage vehicles.
2.they can't be flagged down (need to use app- advanced booking).
3.hence they are not a taxi.
4.they pay taxes on every trip. Plus additional road tax ( by car owner).

So tomm if I hire a cab to goto Pune from Mumbai the cab will charge as per govt rates? What about charging lower fare? Then the govt must also regulate the cabs run by hotels, yellow cabs etc along the same rules. And same rules = no denying a trip, having cars of good condition, sensible drivers, etc

So tomm, will govt try to "fix" rates of all yellow board vehicles ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by nitishk (Post 5416844)

and now all app based auto services are banned in Karnataka as per this

Amazing!

And I thought only in small states like Goa could the local transport operators hold the government hostage. Looks like the auto unions have a lot of clout in KA as well.

If the damn auto guys worked as they were supposed to in the first place, there would have been no scope for Ola or Uber to venture in to that space at all. (Heck, if auto guys in Bangalore did what they have been granted licenses for properly, there would have been little need for such high private car usage as well- the Metro along main roads + auto is the perfect solution for Bangalore's narrow side roads.)

I'm ok paying the auto guys Ola/Uber auto fares. But the issue is the auto guys who were too lazy to even get on those apps in the first place won't work properly even at those rates! Now that they're back to a monopoly, expect things to get worse with even more overcharging and refusing rides. And the Ola/Uber cabbies must be happy too, now the people who don't want to haggle with the auto guys on the road, will have to book cabs instead of autos. And add to the congestion. Nice move!