If you have been using cabs booked through aggregators, taking the cashless route may not be such a good idea.
Several passengers say drivers start the ‘trip’ without picking them up; then after a few kilometres, they end the ‘trip’; and the money gets deducted from the would-be passenger’s e-wallet.
On seeing that money has gone from their e-wallet though they haven’t even boarded the cab, the passengers try to call the driver, who only ignores the calls. They are then forced to hire another cab.
“I live in a lane off the main road and in the mornings, the road is jam packed with vehicles. Earlier, most taxi drivers would ask me to cancel their trip. But now they say that they are coming and keep us waiting. A few minutes later, they would have started the trip and then refuse to take calls,” said Kaushik Chatterjee, a resident of Old Airport Road.
With the decision to stop surge pricing, many drivers haven’t been getting the extra money for plying during peak hours. Many harried passengers allege that drivers are making up for the lost money by logging ‘fake trips’.
Those who use e-wallets are the ones who are worst-affected.
The only recourse they have is to complain to the aggregator and wait for a refund.
“It is just unfair; we get bills for amounts like Rs. 80 and Rs. 100 which is deducted. When we ask for details of action taken against the cab driver, we rarely get any feedback from the company except an apology,” said Papiya Neogi, an advertising professional.
Drivers say during peak hours, it takes longer to reach the pick-up location and during this time, most customers choose to cancel.
One of them said, “If we say wait 10 minutes, most customers cancel the cab. Then we have to explain it to the customer care office. It is not that we want to take their money. In cases where payment is online, we get into more trouble as the customer will follow it up for sure.”
Taxi aggregator Ola became the first of five companies which had applied for licence under the State’s taxi aggregator rules to be issued a licence on Tuesday.
The company had submitted all relevant documents for 100 cabs, the minimum required under the Karnataka on-demand Transportation Technology Aggregators Rules, which came into effect earlier in April this year.
However, Transport Department officials clarified that only 100 taxis registered under the new rules could ply legally. However, no action will be taken as the department had given an undertaking to the High Court that it would not seize vehicles until the court rules on the case.
Meanwhile, competitor, Uber, is yet to get a licence and has said that the department is not providing any updates on their application despite requests.
“We have submitted a list of over 140 vehicles with all requisite documents and hardware fitted. Inspection of all these vehicles was concluded on May 29 May by the Koramangala RTO. The department can best explain the delay in the issuance of licence to us,” said Bhavik Rathod, General Manager, Uber India, South & West.
