Cab aggregators had come as a relief from the petulant demands of autorickshaw drivers. Now, however, haggling for an auto ride in the rains seem to be a cheaper and faster option than engaging a cab through an app.
A cab ride that would normally cost Rs. 150 shoots up to a downright Rs. 400 or Rs. 500 during rain or traffic snarls.
Even if one had the money, finding a cab is turning out to be a needle-in-the-haystack job.
Nishitha Gowda (21), a student, said that she spent two hours trying to book a cab between Basaveshwarnagar and Banaswadi. “I tried three different cab companies. While one company had no cabs, drivers of other companies refused. The third company was charging four times the fare, which was extremely unreasonable. When people need cab services the most, companies tend to jack up the rates,” she said.
Sanjeev Kumar, a software professional who wanted to book a call from Frazer Town to ITPL, has been noticing an increase in fares over the past week. “After great difficulty when we manage to get cabs after agreeing to pay the surcharge, some cab drivers tend to be choosey and pick only routes they want to ply on,” he said.
The companies justify the hikes by saying excess fares will get more cabs on the roads.
Bangalore Tourist Taxi Owners’ Association General Secretary K. Radhakrishna Holla said that while city taxis charge Rs. 19.5 per kilometre as fixed by the Road Transport Authority, cab aggregators are getting away scot-free. “The central government has in fact sent an advisory for licensing, compliance and liability of transport aggregators, but the State government is sitting on it and has not yet framed rules,” Mr Holla said.
Admitting that cab companies are exploiting passengers, Transport Commissioner Ramegowda termed the surcharges as illegal. He said that the Transport Department would frame rules to ensure that taxi aggregators refrain from charging ‘peak time charges’ and surcharges. He said that once the rules come into force, these aggregators will fall in line.
Attempts to get comments from Ola and Uber, two prominent cab aggregators, did not yield results.
‘Why target only autos?’While the traffic police seem to be cracking down on auto drivers for charging excess fare and refusal to ply, there seems to be no action against cab aggregators.
They have booked 5,960 cases for charging excess fare and 10,130 cases for refusing to ply against autorickshaw drivers this year (till November 16). Not one cab has, however, been booked so far.
“Despite the rains, customers do not give us a few rupees extra and even threaten to report us to the police…but do not mind shelling out more money for cabs,” B.C. Murthy, an auto driver said.
Rudramurthy, General Secretary, Auto Rickshaw Drivers’ Union said no action had been taken on their complaints against cab drivers and companies. “While there are apps and helplines to complain against auto drivers, there is no such mechanism against cabs,” he said.
M.A. Saleem, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) said that traffic police would act against taxi aggregators once rules are in place.
