[GTO]

A thought just occurred to me - most people I know are either 'Uber' folk, while some are 'Ola' folk. Rarely do I come across anyone who uses both in equal measure.

Which is your choice & why?

Mine is Uber primarily - it's the first app I fire up when I want to call a cab. Just find the Uber experience to be more polished (software, cars, drivers). That said, I do use Ola when there's no Uber close by (which is rare) or when I'm travelling on a working day. Reason? Simply because so many Ola cars have WiFi; that way, I can work on my laptop using the free WiFi. It's what I did yesterday when I had to step out. Yes, I can use my phone, but hotspot drains the battery big time.

Related Threads:

Uber Review
The Indian Taxi Revolution
Average earnings of cab drivers?
Car loans difficult for Ola drivers
The Ride-Sharing Thread
Economics of car ownership with Uber / Ola?
When Meru was new (throwback Wednesday )

[AkMar]

Voted for Primarily Uber. Uber is my first choice when I need to use a cab. I completely agree with GTO, Uber is a more polished experience. I've rarely had bad experiences with Uber (rejections, driver cancelling trip, rude drivers etc), while Ola has been a mixed bag. Cars on Uber are generally in a good condition except those odd occasions when a beaten & bruised Indica/Indigo turns up. Uber also has the better cashless payment options of the two, i.e. PayTM and credit/debit cards. Ola offers only Ola Money & I am not comfortable locking up some amount in Ola Money.

However Uber has slowly ceased to be VFM (link to post (Car loans become difficult for Ola drivers)), so I have reduced my usage of cabs off late.

[libranof1987]

Uber, hands down!

Uber vs Ola Pros:

- Car quality is almost always much, much better: cars are newer and among the latest ones, DZire, Etios and so on. Ola has run down 2 lakh kms+ Indicas that are just too rickety
- Drivers are slightly more professional and courteous
- Customer support is definitely more professional; emails are typically replied to within a few hours
- Uber keeps sending me texts every week with promotions
- I don't know if this is a thing but the Uber GUI is pleasant
- Uber is flexible with Paytm and cash; Ola tries to push Ola Money if not cash

* In some Uber cabs I've taken, the drivers offered mineral water and candy bars. Smooth!

Uber vs Ola Cons:

- Ola Share works much better. There are some locations in Pune that I just don't see the UberPool option

Where both of them are broken:

- Uber has removed the surge charge denominator so you don't know how much extra you're paying. Same with Ola
- The Ola Share/UberPool algorithm is massively broken (in favor of Uber/Ola); the people who you are sharing the cab with can be very far and wide: you end up spending far too much time picking up/dropping people. And worse, it is a continuous process. So, while you are on a trip, you can pick up and drop someone and then pick up further people!
Plus, it is fifo and often, it doesn't make sense
* In the US, Uber has a strict policy of having the other passengers within 5min/2miles
- Uber and Ola now pre-calculate the fare for your trip and that is what you pay. Wonder who benefits more here; the driver definitely loses when there's too much traffic

[dailydriver]

I use both of them based on availability and do not have a special preference. The quality of cars and the services rendered don't vary much these days. Initially, Uber was considered a bit upmarket, mostly because one couldn't pay by cash (and hence not frequented by many). Now a days both are as good/bad as the other. I have also used Taxi for Sure and Meru too when Uber or Ola weren't available.

[Omkar]

Originally Posted by GTO

Which is your choice & why?

The big question.

Voted for Primarily Uber.

Even I have both apps on my phone and use Ola only when I'm booking for someone else. I guess it's the international brand image that is associated with Uber which makes it slightly more trustworthy.

Recently had a discussion with a friend of mine regarding this as to which one is cheaper? So we both decided to conduct an experiment. The next 5 rides wherever in the Mumbai city, we'd compare the rates on both Ola and Uber and choose the cheaper one. I took Uber for all the trips and my friend chose Uber 4 times out of 5. Note that these trips were made by UberGO and Ola mini and included almost all the parts of Mumbai (SoBo, Suburbs and New Bombay).

I do use Ola when there's no Uber close by (which is rare)

The stats would prove the rarity of that happening. Ola has 5.5 lakh drivers across 102 cities. Uber has 4 lakh drivers in 29 cities. (Source)

Also, in terms of driving I found that most Uber drivers obey the driving rules and speed limits (80 km/h). Had a terrible experience with an Ola driver once who kept on speeding and ogling at every girl on the city streets at the same time!

Somehow even I am tempted by the WiFi option in Ola, but I like the isolation and peace while being driven around, so rarely check the phone. A nice nap is always refreshing.

[swiftnfurious]

For me it's OLA so far as I use share & Auto (in Chennai). I doubt Uber provides these services. To top it, I use a Windows phone and I vaguely remember bad experience with the app and hence Ola.

However, I had a very bad experience a week back as the Auto I hired, didn't stop the meter after dropping me and ran a good 10 kms or so before ending the trip. I was charged a 122/- against a 40/- odd bucks. Have raised a complaint and also emailed Ola but am yet to get the money back. If I don't get the credit in 2 days, that's end of Ola for me! I'll shift to Uber even if it means a higher rate to be paid for the ride.

[centaur]

For me primarily Uber. Ola drivers left me stranded many a times and that soured the experience for me. In Uber, that kind of an experience was not there, until now though. Adding to it, the refund by Uber is fairly easy than OLA as per my experience, and it's almost instantaneous in most cases which saves me the time to have to follow up and check if I did get the refund. Their fleet seems lot more than OLA as well because whenever I check the app, there surely is a Uber cab around but am not sure.

Only grouse with Uber is not having an easy way to contact the customer care (email/phone).

As a matter of fact, I have uninstalled OLA app from my phone. I have started booking cabs through an app called Tapzo which basically always has some offer running. So in the remote case that I need to book an OLA, Tapzo should help

[dark.knight]

Used both, hate both (UBER of late is pulling every stop to displease customers). In summary :

OLA :
- Horrible location seeking, even when an accurate address is typed it locks on to a location a mile off.
- Close to 15% more expensive than UBER
- Cumbersome hailing process (including sharing a 4 digit code on every ride)
- Software not as user friendly as UBER
- Arm twists public into forcing location services (GPS) on mobile.
- Good drivers in general (opposite of what was earlier)
- Drivers are more familiar with the cityscape.

UBER :
- Horrendous software update, no saved locations can be pulled up.
- Pathetic quality of drivers of late, the good ones have all jumped ship to OLA
- Badly maintained cars off late
- Useless algorithm to determine time of arrival/pickup, both are wrong always
- Ratings are not compulsory after the software update, disastrous.
- Hailing process is a bit easier than OLA
- Cost effective
- Location marking services is quite accurate

UBER - 6/10
OLA - 7/10 (even at a premium, YES, UBER has degraded that much)

[BUXX]

Ola Ola , all the way !
Always more cabs in my areas (home, office) , never had too much trouble with driver rejecting trips etc and the payment process is just more easier I feel. (whats with Uber requiring a minimum amount recharge for a trip?)

One issue I have is that both of them overcharge (more than the estimate they provide) while Meru is still better in this aspect.

[.sourov]

Voted for Uber

Uber Pros:

• The cars are well maintained and newer when compared to Ola.
• Felt the drivers to be well mannered.
• Direct payment from credit/debit card (don't know if Ola has introduced this feature).
• When I book early morning cabs for my dad I can give his number so that my sleep is not affected
• They were the first to introduce fixed fare (you know what you will be paying).

Ola Pros:

• Much better coverage, Uber did not have drop option in the place where I used stay earlier.

[SmartCat]

Primarily Ola, because of 24/7 cab availability in our area. I have used Uber a couple of times, and I see no significant difference between the two.

On another note, this fund manager feels Uber (and by logic, Ola too) will not be around in the current form in a decade. He calls it a Ponzi scheme because VC funds are buying Uber stock at a lower price and selling it to other VCs at higher price after holding it for some time

http://www.businessinsider.com/austr...-scheme-2017-5

[smrtdvl]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

OLA :

- Cumbersome hailing process (including sharing a 4 digit code on every ride)

Use both depending on distance and price estimate. I feel that this sharing of 4 digit code is beneficial cos in our city the uber drivers tend to switch on the mobile meter as soon as they arrive on our doorstep even without us getting into the car but with ola if you don't provide the code the driver can't start the trip.
And once a uber driver had fired the app before my mom got in. After knowing the exact location of the drop cancelled the trip and I was charged the minimum fare cos uber considered that as a trip. With ola the driver can't do that without the code from the customer.

[Nav-i-gator]

In NCR, its always Uber. Location lock is comparatively easier and accurate, and UI is better than Ola. Pool is dirt cheap and at odd hours, I always end up alone on pool prices!

Ola has better coverage outside metro limits and is available in many small cities too. But I find Ola UI to be very unpleasant as compared to Uber.

Plus, Uber keep giving promo offers almost every week. And have better payment options.

[mpksuhas]

Primarily Uber
- Better maintained vehicles (as of now).
- Easier to find vehicles in Bangalore.
- Better 'share' routing.

However Ola wins in -
- More cities - Ex: Though I haven't it there, my hometown (Calicut) has only Ola service.
- App loads faster in slow network conditions compared to Uber.

[agambhandari]

Mostly use Uber.

Gives promos like crazy! SoUsually turns out to be cheaper for the trips that I Take (UberGo) for 5-10 kms
Almost always arrives faster
Takes Paytm(who uses OlaMoney for anything other than Ola)
And last, but the most important, the App is faster and has always shown the approx price. (Ola has added it just now)

I would have said Ola is better that it has WiFi and rear screens sometimes, but these features haven't worked for me even when I was told my cab had it. Have to use Ola when uber is telling me it will take a long time or the pricing is too high

With the uber discounts, it's actually cheaper to take uber than to take my own petrol car and sometimes only as much as a metro+auto/rickshaw. With the NCR traffic and heat, you know the option I take