[hserus]

The concept here is price gouging during times of scarcity. Even transparent price gouging where you are supposed to sign off on it. That is why you have the concept of a MRP in retail - you can sell at a discount, or when the product is scarce you can eliminate your discount but there's no way you're allowed to sell beyond MRP. Even if your shop is at a railway station or bus stand, or if it is a famine.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by hserus

The concept here is price gouging during times of scarcity.

This is a good thing, it will encourage operators to divert more cars to local usage while the price is high.

If supply increases, price will come down.

[AkMar]

Not sure if this has been reported before. Yesterday, I fired up the Uber app, and was surprised to see an additional option of Uber Intercity! Some googling around revealed that this is a new service started by them between Pune & Mumbai for a cost of Rs 3999. I feel this price is a bit on the higher side.

[hserus]

I saw a report on another thread that local autowallahs are fighting with ola cabbies in Bangalore. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...ml#post3738372

I haven't seen that happen for quite a while - in fact several of the autowallahs seem to have got themselves ola apps and appeared happy with them (no driving empty for long hours and then haggling over fares etc).

Anyone know what's going on? Or is it at some specific location (eg: railway station, majestic / shantinagar bus stands / madiwala / tin factory bus dropoff points etc)?

[deoelect]

Originally Posted by hserus

I haven't seen that happen for quite a while -

Or is it at some specific location (eg: railway station, majestic / shantinagar bus stands / madiwala / tin factory bus dropoff points etc)?

I can confirm this is happening at Nagpur and Pune.
The problem of local auto/cab drivers fighting with OLA cabs is quite real. One of my relatives faced a really nervous situation when the family went at the station to welcome the 'baraatis'. They had booked around half a dozen OLA/Wings cabs and the local operators created a scene at the last minute. Had to cancel the booking and opt for local taxis. Some days back, I asked my mother to book an OLA cab for a railway station drop(Nagpur).Couple hours before the journey, OLA called up and informed that they can’t ferry passengers to the railway station since the local auto and taxi drivers are beating them up. Had to arrange an auto at the last moment . Got it thankfully!!
The same case happened at the Pune railway station. The local operators were banging bonnets and windows of OLA/Genie and similar private cab operators and shouting expletives. It was quite a scene. There were traffic constables present but nobody seemed to care. Fortunately, me being in Pune, did the pickup and drop myself.
This problem is not very pronounced at the airports but at the railway stations, it’s very much there. Even for travelling within city, I've faced this issue a couple times when I booked an OLA auto and the local auto drivers started arguing with the OLA chap. Thankfully, they haven’t started to hurt passengers yet.

[jayded]

The same situation exists in Trivandrum. Ola cabs operate without any branding or stickers on their cars. I checked with the driver who picked me up from the airport and was told that the auto union is opposing the cab operation owing to offering lower fares than the autos themselves, and hence they don't have any branding on the cabs to avoid running into tiffs with the autowalas.

[Jaggu]

Talking about Uber, recent months availability has been really good. Which obviously meant they have been enrolling more cars and drivers. Only one issue, with the scaling up the quality has gone down BIG time. Especially the Uber X category; Smelly cars, bad drivers, wrong app usage i have personally faced.

If Uber needs to retain the business, they better pull up their socks at screening level!

[dozer]

Originally Posted by MHG

I think surge pricing is 100% fair game and I fully support it.

Any business which prices itself based on supply demand balance is inherently fair and should be promoted because the pricing automatically balances itself out based on demand supply mismatch. If I started a taxi company and offered rides @ 70 rupees a kilometer daily, I wouldn't have any customers.

The share market works the same way. Foreign exchange rates work this way. Prices of bullion and oil also move the same way. Demand vs supply dictates pricing.

You are not required by law (or any other mandate) to take a ride when pricing hits 5x. If cost is of concern to you, you have the option of taking a bus, train or a two wheeler. You also have the option of waiting until the pricing reduces and planning your journeys outside peak hours.

But if everyone followed this logic, then buses and trains would also charge 5x the fee when the demand is very high. You may be okay with that but a lot won't.
It's a bit like those reports about milk packets being sold for 400 rs in the Nepal earthquake I think.
There has to be an upper limit. 5x is too much.
Perhaps Ola and Uber can specify their "MRP" rates per km and offer price discounts when the demand is low.

[mazda4life]

My in-laws had the ride of their life in a ola cab when the cab charged peak hour rates of around Rs 280 for a 4 km ride ( Chamarajpet to Jayanagar) , guess you have to be careful in hiring during peak hours.

[SchumiFan]

Originally Posted by dozer

But if everyone followed this logic, then buses and trains would also charge 5x the fee when the demand is very high. You may be okay with that but a lot won't.

Trains are run by the Government and still have premium trains with high charges. Buses already do this, including KSRTC (nominal increase) while private buses have 4X increase in some sectors.

I would rather pay more and get quality service than be offered sub par service at cheap price.

I think Uber should strive to maintain the standards of the car that is being operated under their umbrella.

OLA has already gone to the dogs.

Originally Posted by dozer

Premium trains not the same as rate changes based on supply and demand
If a uber cab costs 10rs per km at normal rates, they may charge 30rs per km on peak times. The cab and the service stays the same.
That's the discussion here, and the logic's based on supply/demand prices.
You're giving examples (if I've understood you correctly) of different rates on different service/quality of service. But the prices do stay the same within the same service throughout.
What if the premium train charged 4x it's own price during Diwali? Supply and demand logic indeed but there has to be limits.

I am saying that the trains charge more for the same service and buses do as well, just like Uber.

I have seen the price of the bus increase on Fridays and drop drastically during the rest of the week. Check Chennai-Bangalore sector for confirmation.

If people feel Uber is costly during that period of time, they can very well choose other operators. And to be fair, Uber lets them know about Peak Charges beforehand and also gives out a fare estimate as well.

I don't see anything wrong in it after all we are the first ones to jump when they offer a discount on their service

[dozer]

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

Trains are run by the Government and still have premium trains with high charges. Buses already do this, including KSRTC (nominal increase) while private buses have 4X increase in some sectors.

I would rather pay more and get quality service than be offered sub par service at cheap price.

I think Uber should strive to maintain the standards of the car that is being operated under their umbrella.

OLA has already gone to the dogs.

Premium trains not the same as rate changes based on supply and demand
If a uber cab costs 10rs per km at normal rates, they may charge 30rs per km on peak times. The cab and the service stays the same.
That's the discussion here, and the logic's based on supply/demand prices.
You're giving examples (if I've understood you correctly) of different rates on different service/quality of service. But the prices do stay the same within the same service throughout.
What if the premium train charged 4x it's own price during Diwali? Supply and demand logic indeed but there has to be limits.

[nareshov]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

...
Only one issue, with the scaling up the quality has gone down BIG time. Especially the Uber X category; Smelly cars, bad drivers, wrong app usage i have personally faced.

If Uber needs to retain the business, they better pull up their socks at screening level!

Have you tried leaving feedback through the app? I've made both positive and negative feedback several times and I get a prompt response. Perhaps if more people gave similar feedback it might help us in the long run?

Originally Posted by dozer

But if everyone followed this logic, then buses and trains would also charge 5x the fee when the demand is very high. You may be okay with that but a lot won't.
It's a bit like those reports about milk packets being sold for 400 rs in the Nepal earthquake I think.
There has to be an upper limit. 5x is too much.
Perhaps Ola and Uber can specify their "MRP" rates per km and offer price discounts when the demand is low.

The government owned buses and trains might not do such a thing. Besides, it's not a monopoly and the barrier to entry to be in this business is not high unlike the Telecom sector where we're still offered third world broadband speeds for high prices and it's a race to the bottom on which telecom service provider fleeces us the most.

So, as long as the cab business is not a monopoly or controlled by limiting the number of players, the customer still has the power of choice.

[Poloprasad]

I particularly was not happy with the OLA cab booking last week. Some issues we faced

1. My father is 65+ and he is not in a position to book a cab through smartphone app. So he called their helpline number and the customer care person told him that the cab booking can be done only thru app.
2. So he called me to book a cab for him after an hour. I tried booking a mini cab for him after an hour. I got a message stating the mini cabs can be booked only before 15 mins.
3. So went ahead with my work and tried booking before 15 mins. But it automatically selects my current location as pickup location whereas my father is at my home. I tried changing my location but couldn't do that.
4. I went ahead and booked my trip but the driver said he cannot change the pickup location so he asked me to cancel the booking. Finally cancelled the trip.

Last minute tried arranging an another cab operator in a hurry. Totally disappointing.

OLA is it only for smartphone users?
What about aged people like my father who are at home?

Now i have removed OLA app from my phone. I have switched to other cab operator.

[etrast75]

Originally Posted by Poloprasad

3. So went ahead with my work and tried booking before 15 mins. But it automatically selects my current location as pickup location whereas my father is at my home. I tried changing my location but couldn't do that.

Surprised to hear that you could not change location. The app in my phone at least lets me change the pickup location. All I have to do is move the map to where I want the cab.
Your point with respect to ability of people without smartphones to book cab is very valid but then it is the choice of the business to support certain category of users or not. The business case for supporting a call center was not very lucrative considering the amount of business generated from non app users I guess.

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by dozer

If a uber cab costs 10rs per km at normal rates, they may charge 30rs per km on peak times. The cab and the service stays the same.

You are confusing the difference between cost and value just like most of the people on this thread (as well as economics thread).
Value is something that you are willing to pay to buy a goods or service, and has NO connection to what it costs to provide you with that goods or service.

Manufacturing cost of a magnetic tape cassette might by Rs 50, but people will not be willing to pay even Rs 5 for it today. Therefore the value as measured by price would be <Rs 5.

Manufacturing an Apple iphone may be only Rs 10000, but the demand is so great, that Apple charges Rs 65000 and still it sells like hot cakes.

Uber has all the right to charge whatever they wish to charge. Even for the same vehicle and service. They are not govt employees working on fixed prices and margins. If the surge prices are "unjust", most people will not use the services and thus the demand will fall. This will lead to reduction in price. But since it doesn't happen that way we can only conclude that people are willing to buy the services even at surge prices.

THEREFORE at this moment, Rs30/km is the value of Uber cab. Not Rs10/km.

In addition, when Uber or Ola announce a surge price, the cabbies who are sleeping and whiling away time, offline, have an incentive to come online and pickup customers.

In real life the surge will exist only for a few minutes while there is a gap between the number of cabs demanded and number of cabs available. As soon as the sleeping cab drivers come online, or the impatient riders drop out (because of high prices), the surge goes away.

What if the premium train charged 4x it's own price during Diwali? Supply and demand logic indeed but there has to be limits.

So I am sure you are not aware of the premium tatkal services?
Creating limits distorts the equilibrium mechanism. And eliminates any incentive to suppliers to increase their supply. This results in permanent shortage and long queues.

You are suggesting some kind of MRP. Any idea why the concept of MRP has come about? Do you know any other country where this concept of MRP is used?