[deepakv]

Does anyone know if Ola/Uber allow Tata Nano or Tiago as cabs? If not, what could be the possible reasons? I have also heard offhand from drivers that Ola is no longer allowing WagonR or Ertiga onboarding as partner cabs. Weird!

[balajisv]

Originally Posted by deepakv

Does anyone know if Ola/Uber allow Tata Nano or Tiago as cabs? If not, what could be the possible reasons? I have also heard offhand from drivers that Ola is no longer allowing WagonR or Ertiga onboarding as partner cabs. Weird!

First thing to note is that the manufacturers wouldn't allow some of their models to be registered under yellow boards.
Tata doesn't allow Zest and Bolt to be registered under yellow boards, though this rule is now relaxed for Bolt. I'm pretty sure Tata wouldn't allow Tiago for taxi segment at least in the first year IMO.
Nano was already present in taxi segment. Taxi for Sure had Nano service.
After Ola took them over, I don't see Nano taxis now.

[Tanmay K]

Shady experience with Ola today.

My girlfriend booked an Ola Prime ("highly rated drivers and sedans", as claimed), a badly battered up Ertiga showed up instead while the app said Swift Dzire. The driver was polite but his photo was missing, so one can't be sure if it was the real driver whose details were on the app.

The Ertiga broke down twice on during the trip because of engine overheating and the driver filled up the radiator with water. AC obviously had to be switched off in the 43°C Delhi heat.

Reported this to Ola. No action from their end as far as we know.

I strongly advised her to cross the check car's license plate with the app and the car make/model before starting the trip from now on, something I always do.

[carboy]

None of the pre-booking cab companies seem to be reliable for early morning rides (5:00 am etc) - for airport etc.

I used to use TabCab regularly for early morning rides a year and a half back, but then twice they didn't have a cab ready at the pre-booked time. After taking a confirmed booking the previous day, they sent an SMS 20 minutes before the scheduled timesaying - we may not be able to get a ride - please make other arrangements. I have used Meru a few times, but even they did this last week. Sent me an SMS 15 minutes before asking me to make my own arrangement. I got a Uber which came in 10 minutes & after I got in the Uber, Meru got me a cab which I then cancelled.

The whole reason I use Meru etc for early mornings is for getting a confirmed booking before hand. But looks like all these cab companies search for a cab only in the last 30 minutes and send the cab to you.

So I was wondering if I should just use Uber for even early morning rides or is there any reliable cab company operating in Bombay.

[naveenroy]

Guys, how does Ola or Uber work for travelling to Electronic City from Hosur Railway station or vice-versa? Are they allowed to pick up or drop passengers from Bangalore? Or what other options are there?

[balajisv]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Guys, how does Ola or Uber work for travelling to Electronic City from Hosur Railway station or vice-versa? Are they allowed to pick up or drop passengers from Bangalore? Or what other options are there?

Ola & Uber operate only intra city and not sure if they would do inter city service. I seriously doubt if they do serve a trip from Hosur to Electronic City.

Originally Posted by carboy

So I was wondering if I should just use Uber for even early morning rides or is there any reliable cab company operating in Bombay.

I have faced exactly the same issues with Ola/Uber/Meru cab services for my early morning drops to airport in Bangalore.
It is horrifying to receive a sorry message just 15 minutes before scheduled pickup!

To avoid such problems, I have collected mobile numbers of 2-3 Meru cab drivers. I call them personally a day in advance and then schedule my early morning pickups. This works 200%.

I have learnt that depending on Uber for such early morning or late night cab requirements is a risk.

[VeluM]

Travelled with family in two cabs last night, one Uber and the other Ola (because there was only one Uber available in the area).

The distance was only a little over 3kms, but traffic and rain decided that we'd rather travel in relative peace in taxis instead of going nuts driving.

It took the Uber driver about 10 minutes longer because he took a wrong turn and therefore drive a bit extra too, but the Ola bill came to 165 while Uber was 96.

Both the cabs were booked without surge pricing, and they started their respective trips only when we were seated and leaving.

I've heard from drivers that Uber pays on time, is transparent, and they get good commissions so much so that most Ola drivers also partner with Uber, but the reverse isn't as common.

How then is Uber cheaper by such a large margin?

On the airport/early morning trips I use Meru and have never had cabs being unavailable, but that is probably because they guarantee confirmation of all airport drops - at least they used to. I don't rely on Uber unless it is a day drop to the airport and I leave at least an hour before necessary to reach on time.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by balajisv

Ola & Uber operate only intra city and not sure if they would do inter city service. I seriously doubt if they do serve a trip from Hosur to Electronic City.

Ola has started intercity trips now - they will charge a round trip fare irrespective of if you need a drop only. Basically the same as your neighbourhood tour operators. They need a headsup of 2 hours to book such a cab.

Details - http://blog.olacabs.com/get-out-of-town-in-an-ola/

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by VeluM

How then is Uber cheaper by such a large margin?

My guess -

UberPool was booked instead of the UberGo or UberX. Their app acts weird sometimes, and books the UberPool by default.

Other than that, if you compare the invoce, Ola will have a separate tax component. This is over and above your per km/per min charges. No such thing with Uber - invoice reflects the per km+per min charge exactly. But this alone cannot justify so much variance as reported by you, so am guessing you took a UberPool ride and luckily, no one else was allotted the same cab during this time.

[VeluM]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

My guess -

UberPool was booked instead of the UberGo or UberX. Their app acts weird sometimes, and books the UberPool by default.

Booked Uber X, yes. Sorry for not mentioning it earlier. Yes the difference is still quite high, wonder what else Ola adds to their bill 😲

[Chetan_Rao]

I pretty much always use UberX nowadays, and it's significantly cheaper than Ola. Primarily because Uber is cheaper for shorter rides, their per km charge goes up from the 15th km, while Ola charges flat from the first km.

For a sample: I can get a non-surge UberX from my BSK 3rd Stage home to the MG Road CBD area (~11km) and the total fare comes up to ~150-160 all inclusive if there's sparse traffic (autos cost same or more), add a bit of traffic and I can still get there for ~200 INR. Ola costs at least 25-30% more, and the cabs are shabbier.

[mukeshgoel]

Uber driver falls asleep while driving, passenger has to drive the car himself to the destination!

http://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi/...9dGR9jc5N.html

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by mukeshgoel

Uber driver falls asleep while driving, passenger has to drive the car himself to the destination!

http://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi/...9dGR9jc5N.html

Not with a taxi, but I've done this in the past occasionally with my company cab for late night drops. My usual cabbie a few years ago would request me to take the wheel if he was drowsy after working an extra shift, and I usually obliged unless I was tired & drowsy myself.

Once I got home, I'd refill his water bottle and offer a snack, he'd park outside my home and sleep in the car till morning before moving on.

Better to honestly ask for help than risking both our lives, and I didn't mind a relaxed late-night drive home. Reporting to office admin usually made no difference, they'd reassign him to another equally grueling shift/route and I'd lose a trusted cabbie.

[JD1]

Height of stupidity and incompetence!! Ola, Uber announced and now operate from Bangalore airport and now Transport dept says they still do not have license and so seize Ola, Uber cabs at airport. BIAL is mute!! They all should be locked in one room and not open the door till they resolve the issues so we don't have to hear such ridiculous news every now and then!

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/...ece?ref=tpnews

[VeluM]

Originally Posted by JD1

Height of stupidity and incompetence!!

Why is there a separate license for the airport when the vehicle has a state wide taxi permit? I don't know, so just asking for the reason. Seems a bit arbitrary.