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<ul><li>Ola and Uber asked to showcase their algorithms related to ride cancellations and surge pricing.</li><li>Order came after CCPA received numerous complaints of unfair trading practices.</li><li>According to a survey by LocalCircles, 71% of customers continue to face ride cancellation issues.</li></ul>As thousands of commuters find themselves at the mercy of Uber and Ola drivers via ride cancellations, cancellation charges, random surge pricing and long waiting times, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) was set to grill cab aggregators over their algorithms on Tuesday.<br /><br />The regulator, under its Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare, was set to ask cab-hailing platforms to showcase their algorithms related to ride cancellations and surge pricing, along with questioning them over other issues.<br /><br />The CCPA has received numerous complaints of unfair trading practices, such as cab drivers forcing riders to cancel trips that result in the customers paying the cancellation charge.<br /><br />The authority is of the view that old customers are being charged exorbitant rates while new riders are being wooed by low fares for the same distance.<br /><br />Despite the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines 2020, 71 per cent customers say that ride cancellation issues by drivers continue, according to a survey by community-based social media platform LocalCircles last month.<br /><br />Over 45 per cent of app-based taxi consumers stated they were charged more than 1.5 times in surge pricing despite the threshold being set by the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines 2020.<br /><br />The extortionist practices of some drivers to undertake private trips were reported by consumers as a major concern, the report said.<br /><br />As thousands of Indian riders continue to suffer from paying cancellation fees sans their faults, the ride-hailing major in Australia admitted that it made false or misleading statements in cancellation warning messages and taxi fare estimates, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).<br /><br />Uber now faces $26 million (Australian dollars) in penalties for adopting those illegal practices.<br /><br />More than two million Australian consumers were shown the misleading cancellation warning.<br /><br />Envisioned to lessen the travel woes, cab-hailing platforms like Uber and Ola have come a long distance in India, but riders are increasingly facing more issues.<br />Most of the time, Uber and Ola drivers ask the riders to reveal what fare the Uber app is showing, and then decide if they want to take the ride or not depending on the amount and if it is in cash, forcing the riders to cancel the ride.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:</strong><br /><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/10-things-in-tech-its-about-to-get-ugly/articleshow/91440115.cms">10 Things in Tech: It's about to get ugly</a><br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/meditation-app-calm-launched-a-contest-to-find-tiktoks-smoothest-voice-the-winner-will-be-paid-5000-to-narrate-a-story/articleshow/91441165.cms"><strong>Meditation app Calm launched a contest to find TikTok's 'smoothest voice' – the winner will be paid $5,000 to narrate a story</strong></a><br />

Indian regulator to grill Ola and Uber over rising customer complaints

<ul><li><strong><keyword id="1042120" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="uber" source="Orion">Uber</keyword> has announced a slew of measures aimed at making its drivers happy.</strong></li><li><strong>The measures include increased fares, notifications for destination and mode of payment and more.</strong></li><li><strong>The company has also announced that drivers who frequently cancel the rides will be penalized.</strong></li></ul>Uber India has announced a slew of measures aimed at making the drivers happy amid soaring fuel prices and an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/bi-newsletter/how-indias-soaring-inflation-puts-more-burden-on-the-common-mans-pockets/articleshow/91672701.cms">unprecedented rise</a> in the country’s inflation rate.<br /><br />The new measures aimed at the drivers include increased fares across the country, a better payment schedule, showing drivers the destination before they accept the ride and more.<br /><br />Let’s take a look at the new measures announced by Uber.<br /><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Increased fares" comment="subhead" text="Increased fares"><span data-til="noop">Increased fares</span></cmsannotation><br />Petrol and diesel prices are at an all-time high and Uber drivers have been <a href="https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/cab-auto-drivers-hyderabad-go-day-long-strike-164131">protesting</a> about the rising fuel prices and asking Uber to increase the fares. While Uber had already started <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/uber-announces-a-price-hike-of-12-for-cab-rides-in-delhi/articleshow/90793725.cms">increasing the fares</a> in parts of the country, it has now announced that the fares have been increased in all regions.<br /><br />The fares have reportedly been increased by around 15%. While this will make the drivers happy, it will come as a jolt to customers who are already stressed with the rising prices of essentials.<br /><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Destination" comment="subhead" text="Destination"><span data-til="noop">Destination</span></cmsannotation><br />One of the most common questions that a driver asks you when you book a cab or auto is the destination. In ever-increasing instances, the driver cancels the ride or asks the customer to cancel the ride if they do not like the destination.<br /><br />To solve this, Uber has announced that drivers will be shown the trip destination before they accept the ride. This will come as good news to both drivers and customers.<br /><br />It is to be noted that this will only be visible to drivers who meet a predefined trip acceptance threshold, meaning drivers who often reject trips may not be shown the destination address.<br /><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Payment mode" comment="subhead" text="Payment mode"><span data-til="noop">Payment mode</span></cmsannotation><br />“Cash ya online”, is another frequent question that we hear when we book a cab. To solve this, Uber will now show the driver the mode of payment before they accept the trip.<br /><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Payment schedule" comment="subhead" text="Payment schedule"><span data-til="noop">Payment schedule</span></cmsannotation><br />In another step to ease the payment process, Uber has announced a daily pay process. As part of this, earnings from Monday to Thursday will be paid on the next day and the earnings from Friday to Sunday will be paid on Monday.<br /><br />In addition to all this, Uber has announced that repeated complaints against a driver for cancellation or not turning on the air conditioner will lead to penalties and restrictions on using the app.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/uber-announces-a-price-hike-of-12-for-cab-rides-in-delhi/articleshow/90793725.cms">Uber announces a 12% price hike for cab rides in Delhi as petrol, diesel prices skyrocket</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/indian-government-accuses-ola-uber-and-other-aggregators-of-inflating-cab-prices-for-older-customers/articleshow/91488894.cms">Indian government accuses Ola, Uber and other aggregators of inflating cab prices for older customers</a><br /><br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/how-a-group-of-youtubers-pranked-a-scam-call-centre-in-india-that-earns-18-million-per-year/articleshow/91463331.cms"><strong>Here's how a group of YouTubers pranked a scam call centre in India that makes $18 million per year</strong></a><br />

Uber hikes fare across the country, starts showing destination and payment mode to drivers before they accept the trip

Its war time for arch rivals <keyword id="1042120" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Uber">Uber</keyword> and Ola. Taxi aggregator Uber, which has its headquarter in San Francisco, has filed a petition against <keyword id="6362049" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ola-Cabs">Ola Cabs</keyword> in <keyword id="6355014" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Delhi-High-Court">Delhi High Court</keyword>, accusing the Indian cab operator of setting up fake riders accounts and misleading its drivers through fake calls impersonating Uber.<br />
	<br />
	Interestingly, the legal battle will is only expected to stir up the cab market that has been up for grabs for quite sometime now.<br />
	<br />
	According to the ET report, Uber is seeking ‘declaration, perpetual injunction and damages’ against Ola in the Delhi HC. The high court has asked Ola to respond to the allegations and has given time till the next hearing, which has been scheduled on September 14.<br />
	<br />
	As per the report, Uber has accused Ola of creating over 93,000 fake rider accounts in order to mislead the company as far as their sales is concerned. Also, the US cab operator has alleged that Ola made 405,649 false bookings of taxi rides and thereafter cancelled them to create frustration and disrupt business.<br />
	<br />
	Another serious allegation made by Uber includes accusing Ola employees of impersonating Uber employees in order to spread malicious text messages, thus causing damage to the business and the brand.<br />
	<br />
	But this isn’t the first lawsuit involving either company. ANI Technologies Ltd, the parent company of Ola, has filed a contempt petition in the Delhi High Court, alleging Uber of buying diesel cars to provide services, which if true, is a violation of Delhi HC’s October 14, 2015 order.

Uber accuses Ola of causing serious ‘damage’ to its business

<p>The rise of Uber is destroying the traditional taxi business, according to this compelling chart from data compiled by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission. It tracks sale prices of taxi "medallions," the pricey licenses that give companies the right to operate a yellow cab:</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The data was compiled by <a href="https://twitter.com/DonutShorts/status/570089747860869120">Donut Shorts, a Twitter account for investors</a>. It comes <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/html/industry/medallion_auction_current_and_past_auction_results.shtml">from the NYCTLC</a>.</p><p>The scariest part - for taxi companies - is the bottom part of the chart where the blue bars indicate sales coming from foreclosures.</p><p>Medallions used to confer on companies a type of monopoly or cartel - you could not operate a taxi in New York without one. Now, however, Uber lets anyone drive a taxi for the entry-level price of merely owning your own car. For many drivers there is simply no point in owning a medallion or working for a medallion company. And so the transaction value of those medallions has dropped off a cliff, even though the economy in New York has gone through the roof.</p><p>We haven't seen anything like this in the <keyword id="6354868" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="UK">UK</keyword> yet but there are early worrying signs for traditional cab fleets.</p><p>Addison Lee, which has a massive fleet of private hire drivers in London, <a href="http://news.sky.com/story/1373303/carlyle-puts-brakes-on-800m-addison-lee-sale">recently cancelled its planned private equity sale</a>. And then it announced there would be <a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/business/business-news/addison-lee-considers-job-cuts-as-uber-and-hailo-encroach-on-london-minicab-market-10044146.html">90 job losses at the company</a>.</p><p>Uber's arrival in London already caused protests from Hackney Cab drivers. When Uber launched in Birmingham, drivers there said they didn't care. <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"We are not particularly bothered about Uber coming to Birmingham," Mohammed Taj, a member of Birmingham's Black Cab Drivers' Association (BBCD), <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/uber-launches-in-birmingham-2015-2#ixzz3SwQKKrER">told the Mail</a>.</span></p><p>The stats from New York suggest cab companies ought to start being bothered a bit more.</p><p> </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/car-survival-kit-essential-items-2015-2">The 8 essential items you need in your car</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="NsbXI5czoTg9458Ua_9CH1YQcZbFarLJ" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

This is the financial proof that Uber is destroying taxi companies

<p><div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div><p class="source"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomasfano/2708621790/sizes/l/in/photostream/">Flickr / Creative Commons</a></p></div>THERE IS little doubt that the proliferation of taxi-booking apps is changing how people get around. Hailo, which is already used by more than half of all black-cab drivers in London, is also <a href="http://support.hailocab.com/customer/portal/articles/713280-where-can-i-use-hailo-">available</a> in Dublin, Toronto, Boston, and Chicago. The firm, which recently <a href="https://hailocab.com/nyc/press-releases/hailo-raises-30m">raised $30 million</a> in new capital, has now launched <a href="https://hailocab.com/nyc/press-releases/hailo-raises-30m">in New York City</a>. Uber, another <keyword id="235499" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="APP">app</keyword>, is <a href="https://www.uber.com/cities#">available</a> in 30 cities and regions, from Amsterdam and Atlanta to Vancouver and Washington, DC.<em><br /></em></p>
<p>Uber certainly has changed the cab service in my hometown of Washington, DC. For decades, it was all but impossible to get taxis to go to or from certain parts of the capital city—and <a href="http://www.racialicious.com/2012/11/28/cab-drivers-uber-and-the-costs-of-racism/">harder if you were a minority</a>. Uber, which is based on a smartphone app, changed all that. Uber users fill in their credit-card information and then tell the app where they want to be picked up. Nearby drivers are alerted and one of them will claim the job. The user then gets an estimate of how long it will take for the car to arrive, and can track the driver's progress on the smartphone app. If the user doesn't cancel the car request in a few minutes, a deposit is charged to her credit card.</p>
<p>Uber is more expensive than a regular cab, but the cars are cleaner and newer. The drivers are also willing to take you almost anywhere in the city. Uber initially only worked with its own cabs, but the company recently launched a new, cheaper service, called <a href="http://washingtonexaminer.com/uber-to-launch-taxi-service-in-d.c./article/2518487">Uber Taxi</a>, for regular <keyword id="44434" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="taxi">taxi</keyword> rides. </p>
<p>Hailo co-founder Jay Bregman, meanwhile, already has his sights set on the next big thing. <em>The Verge</em>'s Adrianne Jeffries explains:</p>
<blockquote>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">[T]here’s something else going on here. Taxi apps give us a glimpse of a future in which everything is real-time—imagine attaching a moving dot on a map to every pizza delivery driver and FedEx package. There are only two examples of success with matching people together for a real-life transaction in real time: taxi apps, and Grindr, the hook-up app for gay men. Only one of those (we hope) involves cash.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Real-time delivery sounds great. But in the meantime, being able to actually get a cab when you need one is good enough. Hurrah for Hailo and Uber, and may the best app win.</p>
<p>Click <a href="http://www.economist.com/products/subscribe/CUR22/noreg">here</a> to subscribe to <keyword id="425741" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="The-Economist">The Economist</keyword></p>
<p></p>

If You Want A Glimpse Of The Future, Just Look At Taxi Apps

Cab aggregator <keyword id="1042120" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Uber">Uber</keyword> has come up with a 'Schedule a Ride' feature and now you will be able to schedule rides in advance on the app.<br />
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This new feature is launched in over 20 cities and users can book rides up to 30 days in advance.<br />
<br />
"A top-requested service from riders around the world, especially from business travelers...Riders can schedule an uberX or an uberGO for as little as 15 minutes to as many as 30 days in advance," stated Uber.<br />
<br />
Users can cancel anytime before their ride is on the way, it added.<br />
<br /> Amit Jain, President for <keyword id="2502101" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Uber-India">Uber India</keyword>, said the offering minimises idle time for its driver-partners.

You can now schedule your rides in advance on Uber

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Jeff Chiu/AP Images</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Discrimination against African Americans is a common occurrence among ride-hailing services like Uber and Yelp, according to a new study on driver behavior. </p><p><a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w22776" target="_blank">This study</a>, which was published Monday by researchers at MIT, Stanford, and the University of Washington, recorded data from 1,500 rides in Boston and Seattle.</p><p>The study used eight research assistants to help them conduct the study: two African American women, two African American men, two white women, and two white men.</p><p>The data showed that not only do African American passengers experience longer wait times, they're subject to higher cancellation rates from drivers. </p><p>In Seattle, the riders completed 581 trips that showed there was a 35% increase in wait times for African American riders.</p><p>In Boston, the eight riders took 460 trips with Lyft and 451 trips with Uber. For men, the cancellation rate was nearly twice as high for those with "black-sounding" names - 11.2% versus 4.5% for "white-sounding" names. For women, it was 8.4% and 5.4%, respectively. </p><p>Overall, the study concluded "that UberX drivers are nearly three times as likely to cancel a ride on a male passenger upon seeing that he has a 'black-sounding' name."</p><p>"Using the most direct measure (observed cancellations in Boston) there appears to be evidence that African American passengers receive worse service, compared to white riders, in TNC or ride-hailing based services such as Uber and Lyft," the authors wrote. "This discrimination is not the result of any policy by ride hailing providers, but rather the behavior of individual TNC drivers."</p><p>When it comes to Lyft, the study notes one key difference between it and Uber: Uber drivers only see<span> the passenger's name <em>after</em> they accept the ride, whereas Lyft drivers can see the passenger's name and photo before accepting the ride. This might explain why Uber has higher cancellation rates compared to Lyft; those drivers might be just as biased, but due to how their system operates, there's just no way to know as easily.</span></p><p>And so, while there may be drivers who choose not accept rides at all based on a passenger's race, it's not as clear from the data: In Boston, all the men faced about the same cancellation rate on Lyft, while women faced a lower cancellation rate when using African American-sounding names. But in Seattle, there wasn't a major difference in Lyft wait times between African American and white passengers.</p><p>The study noted that the findings might not be such a new occurrence: Discrimination has long been rampant among traditional taxi cab drivers as well.</p><p>"In our Seattle experiment we found that discrimination within traditional taxi-cab also exists," the authors write. "The first taxi stopped nearly 60% of the time for white RAs, but less than 20% of the time for African American RAs. Furthermore, white RAs never had more than four taxis pass them before one stopped, but the African American RAs watched six or seven taxis pass them by in 20% of cases. These differences are statistically significant."</p><p>We reached out to both Uber and Lyft about this study. Rachel Holt, Uber's head of North American operations, said the findings of the study will be helpful for Uber in thinking about how to further tackle discimination.  </p><p>"Ridesharing apps are changing a <keyword id="34991" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="transportation">transportation</keyword> status quo that has been unequal for generations, making it easier and more affordable for people to get around - no matter who they are or where they live," Holt said in an emailed statement. "Discrimination has no place in society, and no place on Uber. We believe Uber is helping reduce transportation inequities across the board, but studies like this one are helpful in thinking about how we can do even more."</p><p>Lyft also emphasized that it doesn't tolerate discrimination on its platform. </p><p>"We are extremely proud of the positive impact Lyft has on communities of color," Adrian Durbin, Lyft's head of policy communications, wrote in an emailed statement. "Because of Lyft, people living in underserved areas - which taxis have historically neglected - are now able to access convenient, affordable rides. And we provide this service while maintaining an inclusive and welcoming community, and do not tolerate any form of discrimination."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-world-robot-conference-beijing-artificial-intelligence-human-like-2016-10">China just showcased the world's most human-like robots, and they show how close we're coming to Westworld reality</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="QyNHh4NjE6wJdeMjoxiebeI-_J_qGCV2" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Uber drivers are more likely to cancel on men with 'black-sounding' names, study finds

New Delhi, May 18 () Ride-hailing platforms Ola and Uber on Monday announced resuming operations in more cities, including Delhi and Bengaluru, following new guidelines for the fourth phase of the lockdown.<p> Cab services were suspended for more than 50 days in Delhi and Bengaluru due to restrictions imposed by the government to contain the spread of coronavirus.</p><p> "In compliance with Lockdown 4.0 guidelines by the Government, Uber is resuming services across more cities in India. Riders will constantly be notified with further information and the status of specific cities through our app," it said in a blogpost.</p><p> With the 10 new cities, Uber will be available in total of 35 cities in the country. The company had earlier resumed operations in 25 cities.</p><p> Ola said driver-partners operating three and four-wheelers on the platform will be available in the states of Karnataka, Telangana, Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu (except Chennai), Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Assam.</p><p> "This also brings relief to millions of drivers-partners whose livelihoods depend on serving citizens on a daily basis. In all of the over 160 cities where Ola is now operational, enhanced safety protocols are applicable across every single trip," Ola said in response to an emailed query.</p><p> In Delhi, taxis and cabs will be allowed but only two passengers at a time will be allowed in the car.</p><p> According to industry executives, services for travelling between locations in two states (for example, Delhi and Gurugram) will still not be available under the current rules.</p><p> Ola and Uber outlined steps for ensuring the safety of riders and driver-partners.</p><p> Ola said its safety protocol includes compulsory mask usage for driver-partners and passengers, complete sanitisation of cars post-trips, and adhering to social distancing norms by limiting to two passengers per ride.</p><p> Earlier on Monday, Uber announced that both driver and rider will mandatorily have to use face masks during a ride. Also, drivers will have to upload a selfie wearing a face mask before going online on the platform.</p><p> These companies will also allow drivers and riders to cancel trips if they do not feel safe, including if a user is not wearing a mask or face cover.</p><p> Uber and Ola had suspended operations after the government announced a nationwide lockdown from March 25 to contain the spread of COVID-19 infection.</p><p> They allowed only people in essential services like healthcare, banking and media to commute and the restricted mobility left driver-partners of cab services like Ola and Uber with no source of income.</p><p> After 40 days of lockdown, some relaxations were provided in the third phase (May 4 onwards), including allowing cab services to operate in orange and green zones.</p><p> Uber started operations in 25 cities, including Jamshedpur, Kochi, Cuttack and Guwahati (green zone) as well as locations like Amritsar, Rohtak, Gurugram and Visakhapatnam (orange zone). Ola had said its services were available in more than 100 cities.</p><p> The demand and supply had been low in the first few days after these platforms had resumed services.</p> According to industry executives, demand was low in various cities as people were stepping out only for essential travel, while the number of vehicles on the road was also limited as a fraction of drivers logged onto work. SR MRMR

Lockdown 4.0: Uber, Ola resume services in more cities

Very recently, I had a not-so-pleasant <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ola">Ola</keyword> experience while travelling from Noida to Gurgaon for an official meeting. On booking a mini, a pop-up box told me my request was being upgraded to a Sedan, but I’d have to pay mini charges. I was happy. Maybe Ola was honoring me for being a dedicated user of its taxi services. Not bad at all, I thought to myself. But as I headed towards the cab, the happiness started to fade away. I saw a dust-laden Indica parked at a distance with its paint coming off from everywhere. The number plate read the same as on my Ola app. As I sat inside it, I found out that the state of the car was worse. There was a moist unpleasant smell coming from the dirty white cotton seat covers. Dried pan stains on the footmats disgusted me. Open wires dangling from the dashboard was an ugly sight. Updated to a Sedan? I thought it was worse, ridiculous than a mini! With not too much time in hand, I decided to take the ride.<br />
<br /> However, such and many other problems are regularly faced by people like us who opt for <keyword id="3163199" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="taxi-booking-apps">taxi booking apps</keyword> for commuting on a regular basis. It’s a shame that in India, these companies have enough demand, but such poor services. A look at a few of such complaints will make you never want to use these cabs at all. <br />
<br /> For instance, 27-year-old Shobhit, a resident of Gurgaon, booked a <keyword id="1428790" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="TaxiforSure">TaxiForSure</keyword> cab to travel to IGI airport. “It took me half an hour to explain to him where I stay because location accuracy is big issue with the app. When I sat in the cab, he told me I had cancelled the trip. I was shocked because I hadn’t. He said he couldn’t take me till I booked it again. So I had to cancel the ride only to find the app showing no cabs. I struggled for 10 minutes, but it was of no use. The driver refused to take me and I could not find any other cabs in the vicinity. I ultimately missed my flight. It’s name should be TaxiNotSure,” he says, adding that he wrote a stinker mail to the company, but never got a reply.<br />
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In another encounter, Tokas Jain, who works as sales professional in GSK, was on an official Kolkata trip. “I had booked a cab in Kolkata and it never reached me. It picked up some other passenger with my booking and the same was billed to me. Fortunately, I use cash for making payments. Had there been balance in my wallet, I wonder whether they would have ever refunded the money,” he says.<br />
<br /> Deepti Purohit, a journalist based out of Noida, had not even booked a cab, she had merely installed Ola on her phone. A day later, she found a bill in her mailbox that said she had taken a trip and had an unbilled amount of nearly Rs 400 to bear. Dumbfounded, she wrote a mail to the company, who later apologized to her for the mistake.<keyword id="1042120" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Uber">Uber</keyword> had one of its users Aditya Samod fuming with anger when money was debited thrice from his wallet without any reason, “I added Rs 500 by Paytm. I booked taxis thrice, but none of the drivers come. They either did not answer the call or refused to come. But every time I cancelled a ride, Uber charged me Rs 150. I wrote to them, but have only been assured assistance so far,” he says.<br />
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Kaamna, a PR executive, who often uses these apps, made a  significant observation: “Drivers take a longer route deliberately that results in inflated bills. I boarded a cab from Barakhamba to Gurgaon and he intentionally took a long deserted route. Despite telling him to take the shorter route, he refused. I called up TFS helpline number. They put me on hold for more than 10 minutes. I was all alone yelling at the driver and it was evening time. There was no response from customer care. Till now, I have not received even a single call from their side to know if I am safe,” she says. “And the drivers are talking on the phone all the time!,” she complains.<br />
<br />
Aakanksha Jain, a journalist, said one of these days she had booked TaxiForSure cab. “On reaching the destination, I never got the bill on my app. I asked the driver and he said it was Rs 265. I paid him. But later, I was shocked to find out that the actual bill was Rs 172,” she says. She also highlights how Ola autos are merely an addition to the Ola app, but absolutely inefficient in practice. “I got off the metro to book an auto since the app showed options just 2 minutes away. For the next ten minutes, I stood there as the app scanned the options, but none of the auto drivers accepted the booking. Finally, I had to take an auto from nearby,” she says.<br />
<br />
Personally, I felt it was bizarre when the Indica car’s shabby Ola driver said to me “please rate me 5 star, madam” with a wide grin as he dropped me off. After paying him the money, I went back to the app to give him 1 rating, and was shocked to see that he already had an overall rating of 4.5! He perhaps requests each traveler to extend the favour. Moreover, I am surprised why Ola allowed such a car to be in its list!  <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=uber">Uber</a>, TaxiForSure and the likes. It’s time you do something about it!<br />
<br />
(Image credits: BCCL)<br />

Where Taxi Hailing Apps in
India are going terribly wrong!

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Lyft</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>We're in Las Vegas this week at the International Consumer Electronics Showcase (CES), where the biggest names in tech show off their new and upcoming products for the year.</p><p>Historically, Vegas has been a city dominated by taxis. But this year at CES, for the first time ever, Uber and Lyft are allowed to operate in the city. Lyft <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2015/10/26/lyft-beats-uber-to-mccarran-airport-in-las-vegas/#.hhzogwi:opK5">made its entrance first</a>, back in the fall at McCarran Airport, and Uber launched around the same time.</p><p>Both Uber and Lyft have been falling over themselves this week, lowering fares and offering steep discounts to first-time riders to attract users. (Uber and Lyft, I've noticed this week, are both already way cheaper than a local taxi here.)</p><p>Normally when I'm in New York City, I open the Uber app and hail a car without much thought. But here, much to my surprise, it's been much more convenient to use Lyft. And isn't the whole selling point of a ride-hailing app its convenience factor?</p><p>There's a weird thing about how these companies operate in Vegas: when you type in your destination, you receive specific instructions about where to go to have your car pick you up. For example, I tried leaving Mandalay Bay Convention Center in an Uber the other day, and it instructed me to go to a specific place outside of the hotel (taxis still get preferential pickup and dropoff locations at venues, and Uber and Lyft are forced to make alternate arrangements to pick up customers). In New York and other cities, this isn't the case.</p><p>But even following those specific instructions, my Uber driver couldn't find me, and it ultimately took 15 minutes of him driving around and me walking around for us to meet up. Later in the day it was raining, and my colleague Nathan and I tried hailing an Uber to pick us up at the Aria, but we ended up on a fruitless 15-minute goose chase in a downpour to meet up with the Uber driver. We ended up cancelling the ride when we couldn't find him, and we took a cab back to the hotel.</p><p>Conversely, my experiences with Lyft here have been great - despite having to follow the same weird pickup instructions, my drivers haven't had any problems finding me and vice versa. In the end, I wonder if this boils down to who has the most accurate mapping technology, or if it's a matter of which company is better at these weird venue pickup workarounds they've been forced to adopt, or maybe I'm just really bad at hailing Uber cars (my rating, after all, is a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-a-five-star-uber-rating-2015-12">meager 4.6</a>).</p><p>Some other interesting nuggets I've gleaned from the cabbies and Uber and Lyft drivers I've talked to here:</p><ul><li>The cab drivers really hate the ride-hailing drivers. (Surprise!) One tried to cut off my Lyft driver as we were leaving McCarran Airport on Monday night.</li><li>Despite this, cabbies aren't hurting this week. I asked my cab driver last night if Uber and Lyft were cutting into his business. He seemed annoyed by their existence, but said this week was pretty much business as usual for him, at least at the CES venues.</li><li>Uber and Lyft drivers I've talked to here really seem to love driving for the companies. The drivers I've spoken to are ex-casino employees or former limo or taxi drivers who see Uber and Lyft as more flexible ways to make a living or earn some extra cash on the side.</li><li>At the same time, a couple of these drivers seem anxious and upset about the <a href="https://newsroom.uber.com/nevada/uber_price_cut_holiday_nevada/">holiday/CES fare discounts</a>, which they fear could extend indefinitely.</li></ul>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/uber-ceo-travis-kalanick-made-billions-life-story-2015-12">The insanely successful life of Uber billionaire Travis Kalanick</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="xwY2lmdjrD0sKNXKjphpxxEqtRvRDYXG" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Lyft is smoking Uber at CES

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Uber CEO Travis Kalanick admitted to trying to torpedo funding efforts of his biggest rival, Lyft.</p>
<p>In a profile of Kalanick for Vanity Fair, <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/business/2014/12/uber-travis-kalanick-controversy?mbid=social_twitter#">Kara Swisher reports the following</a>:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"We knew that Lyft was going to raise a ton of money," says Kalanick. "And we are going [to their investors], 'Just so you know, we're going to be fund-raising after this, so before you decide whether you want to invest in them, just make sure you know that we are going to be fund-raising immediately after.' " It's part of what seems to be an unabashed effort to kneecap Lyft. In August, it was revealed that Uber was employing some dicey tactics by sending so-called brand ambassadors to order Lyft rides undercover and then persuade the drivers to defect to Uber.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Uber, if you're not aware, allows people to quickly and easily order a car from their phone. Lyft does the exact same thing. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">This quote from Kalanick is a vivid illustration of the nasty fight between these two companies. They've tried to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/is-uber-operation-slog-legal-2014-8">steal each others drivers</a>. Uber is poaching Lyft executives. They've accused each other of other shady schemes like ordering cabs then canceling them. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">We've never heard a CEO openly admit to trying to nuke a rival's fundraising. We're sure it happens all the time, we've just never heard anyone talk about it out loud. </span></p>

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