[Brumby]

Whenever I have to opt for travel by cab, I am worried, worried because, the Ola/Uber or any other cabs are not clean from inside and look pathetic from outside.

All that hygiene/disinfection ads during COVID by Ola were a propaganda.

The service has been bad consistently and rarely I got to travel with a polite and pleasant driver. Gutkha/tobacco chewing is the norm amongst the taxi drivers

Recently I returned home and was in dilemma to pick a cab at the airport because of the reasons mentioned. To give it a try, I opted for a cab from Akbar travels only to be disappointed again.

There is literally no sedan available other than d'zire/xcent catagory.

I wish there were better options available in the taxi market.

[i74js]

Yes indeed, the usage has gone down. I have stopped taking Ola / Uber from the airport to the city.

Blue Cabs in Mumbai are good, and I pay 50 to 100 rupees extra at Delhi (Yellow Black cabs) so that the driver uses AC. The wait time is nearly zero, it is available right at the exit. The cash tip to driver makes him happy. I can choose the cab in which I would like to sit just by waiting for less than a minute. In majority of the cases I am able to get in a good condition / almost new Dezire.

Ola / Uber on the other hand make you wait, operate with poor cabs on significant occasions and interrogate the commuter even when they know the area where the drop is scheduled, I believe the cab aggregators have started providing this information. The other day, the fellow stopped for taking CNG and wasted nearly 10 minutes of my time, also when I got down the Ola fare was not what was shown at the time of booking
(INR 38 extra), not sure if this was because of the driver stopping for refueling.

Somehow the pleasure of using app-based services has gone down.

[amitayu]

Shifted to Blu for city hauls.

My wife is a regular user of ride-hailing services and Uber/Ola were proving to be nightmarish in crunch office time. Finally, we discovered Blu and soon she became a prime customer (or whatever term they call it).
Even I have shifted to Blu for office meeting rides, or late night parties where I may drink and hence don't want to risk driving.


It is way more convenient, way cheaper, and the ride in an EV is more comfortable and relaxing!! Needless to say, both of us are contemplating our next ride to be and EV thanks to the Blu experience. They also double up as ambassadors for EV to the masses!!

For airport returns, I find Meru to give better service out of IGI (Delhi airport), although its way more expensive!!!

[zadoom]

Voted: Yes, drastically reduced usage.

Good timing for this thread and it seems Ola / Uber have in general seen a drastic fall since just a couple of days back my App was sending me notifications that we are missing you.

In my case, the shift from Uber has been due to being 99% certain that there will be at least 2 - 3 cancellations before I can land up with a cab, the cab driver will most likely ask to cancel and pay him the money directly, if that happens then Uber will charge me the cancellation and then deal with their customer service to get the money back. Too painful and hence have almost completely stopped using them.

What I prefer - my neighborhood Taxi Stand and there as well have fixed up with a particular family who have quite a few cars from Altis to Accent. All the airport, station runs, pick-ups etc are managed by them. No hassles at all. If I have an all nighter planned then I prefer to drive and then call Driver Suvidha / Party hard drivers for a temporary driver to drop back home. Works especially well on busy nights like the 31st Dec, match nights etc.

Have still not deleted the app or my account yet as it still comes useful for out of town journeys.

Cheers,
Mayank

[chandrda]

Voted - Yes

I have reduced Ola/Uber by around 80%. The pricing and the drivers not accepting the ride is the main reason.

Earlier the trip to office from home used to be around 400-500 in the cab, but now the cabs are costing around 1200-1400. Even then the drivers don't accept the ride and cab driver don't even switch on the AC. The condition of the cabs have deteriorated in the last 2 years.

I am using the Palio as a beater car and drive it everywhere in the city. For the late night dinner, we have started hiring a know driver who will pick and drop for a fixed sum.

Regards

[Cooltronics]

We have stopped using Ola Uber in our home and we restrict it to last resort - you can say few notches above 108 services.
Unpredictability, unprofessionalism, poor service, negotiation techniques etc. gives unnecessary stress and we started using them to avoid driving stress in city traffic.
For Airport drop and pick up, we have found sweet spot in Quick Ride - they provide brand new electric cars, and their driver service is excellent (at least for now) and owing to electric vehicles, they are able to offer better rates as well. If we have significant luggage, we take the airport taxi (MERU) back home.
For day-to-day usage, we drive our cars and occasionally take a Rickshaw to destination.
I would say what an opportunity lost by these 2 companies in changing the way how people commute through public transport.

[chinmaypillay]

I usually do not utilise Uber/Ola much since they are very unreliable when you are on an urgency to reach some place.

Recently I have tried other apps like Rapido/DriveU when required especially through Auto/2 wheelers as they are mostly reliable and work is done

My frustration towards Ola/Uber has made me check out the BMTC bus transport and Yulu even which I found have better connectivity and service. Nearest reaching to the metro stations if luggage is less is also tried out.

There is Namma Yatri/DriveU when required as alternatives.

In Tamil Nadu, there is a local player called RedTaxi which so far has amazing service and cab quality. No fuss gets the job done, you can even book the cabs through a phone call if you do not wish to install the app.

I utilise this largely when required in Coimbatore/Madurai and they are really good.

[sam264_2000]

Voted - Yes.

I have deleted the Uber App from my phone. Too many cancellations, nagging by drivers to know the destination and payment methods. They also upped the prices significantly without any improvement in service. I now prefer Ola auto - quick and efficient service.

[devilicious]

Honestly, I think everyone knows now that Uber/Ola are no longer reliable including these companies themselves. Rude drivers, multiple cancellation and then forcing customers for cash payments.

I try and avoid these apps as much as possible for peace of mind. If its just me needing travel, I prefer to use Rapido which is way better in terms of acceptability and professionalism.

[d.j]

Yes!

We use less than what we used to and avoid it by all means.

Cars are dirty, not maintained, unreliable at times like going to airports or so. With unclean or smell cars I have tendency of getting nausea, so all together avoid it more now.

Replaced all airports drop and pickups with services like Avis, they are expensive but reliable and cars are clean.

Use DriveU wherever we cannot park or drive back, service is good, I have found most of the drivers as professional and competent, had this conversation with one of their driver during a ride, it was interesting to understand the process and protocols the company follows, how the drivers get assigned to particular cars, it’s not just random. How they have to run other driving roles before they finally get to drive passengers etc etc, not sure how much has been practiced or so but meantime this has enticed more confidence and now I don’t hesitate to hand over the car to them.

Regards/DJ

[GhostGrid]

Rapido Auto is what I would use if I wasn't driving. I'll only try for Ola or Uber if Rapido is not available, since I know I'll regret it afterwards.

Why not Ola or Uber?

1) Both providers' drivers tended to take longer routes; the only way to stop them is to engage in combat, and you can't do that on a daily basis. It's better to avoid it.

2) Their car is on its last legs 99% of the time.

3) You never know how much time it's going to take to get the cab as mostly drivers cancel the cab and some never show up (I honestly have no idea why; they simply wait for you to cancel the cab).

4) This has occurred to me several times when they have requested only cash—neither UPI nor prepaid. Repeatedly reported, but nothing changed.

5) I am not sure if others have faced this, but mainly in Ola, it shows the estimated amount, but when the driver concluded the trip, it showed an entirely different amount. (For instance, after the journey is done, it shows 310 INR even though the approximate cost was 220 INR.) Whenever I called customer care, they said this happened when you stopped the cab in between, forced the driver to take a different route, or got stuck in traffic congestion. When I told them none of these things happened, they flatly denied that "Sir, this can't have happened" or that they would occasionally add 20 rupees to my account.

I always try my best not to use their service.

[amolathalye]

Yes , they are not the same anymore , I think they have not recovered from the Pandemic time damage and overall quality of vehicles has deteriorated big time. I am in Mumbai , many times I have experienced that it takes them too long to assign a car and many times drivers cancel it at their end post accepting the trip.

[DriveOnceMore]

There were times when we have seen many threads here talking about how Ola/Uber will break the back of complete personal vehicle automobile industry.
..and today, we have this thread which I know would be coming.

Ola / Uber can never replace car convenience of personal ownership.
Hiring a driver would be more practical, in some cases.

Cabs charging upwards of 20-25 Rs / KM makes no sense in any scenario.


I rarely use Ola / Uber like in case where I had to drop / pick up my car from service center etc.

[EvilZombie]

Voted No.

The only time I took a cab in the last year is when I am on travel for work. I would love to drive my own car for such trips, and also did so on a couple of occasions, however it really is an illogical thing to do, considering I travel a lot and self transport is generally not encouraged or paid by company.

[antonylejos]

When I first read about Uber, I was impressed by its transparent fare system. The driver should be compensated for the time spent in traffic and the distance driven.
Initially, Uber had a system like Rs.15/km and Rs.1/minute or something similar. This means that if there is less traffic and we cover 15 km in 10 minutes, we pay Rs.225 for the distance traveled and Rs.10 for the time, totaling Rs.235. If we cover the same distance in 1 hour, we end up paying Rs.265.

Even if they charge Rs.2/minute or any other amount, being transparent about the fare is a good thing.

Presently, Uber/Ola is as good as local cabs. I have lost trust in them and now depend on self-driving.

I cannot understand why even the government is not able to come up with a proper sustainable meter charge system for Auto/Taxi.
If a proper sustainable meter system is introduced, even Uber/Ola will have no role to play.

I have seen a proper meter taxi system in Paris:

1. If we call a taxi over the phone, the meter starts from the place where that taxi is at that time. The taxi driver informs us of that location. It is fair because that is what the driver drives. Uber/Ola can implement this. Let them be transparent. It will be useful for customers as well as drivers.
2. They had A/B/C/D options in the taxi meter.
3. A is selected when they drive inside the proper city area, B and C as they move to the outskirts (each area has a proper A/B/C/D option designated by the government, and when police check they should be exactly in that mode).
4. Outside city areas will be in “D” which factors in return fare too. I think B/C options factor in partial return fare based on the possibility of getting a return journey.

In India, even within cities when we go inside streets where the possibility of a return journey is less, meter charges should be double.

If such a reform is brought in and made strict, it will be sustainable for drivers as well as passengers. The present meter fares are not sustainable for either.

As the present meter charges are very less, drivers charge passengers illegal high fares for survival and probably paying part of it to Police/RTO as well.
Long back, in 2011, I was taking an Auto in Chennai from Paris to Chennai central , 1.5 km, the auto driver charged me Rs.50/-. I tried to make a friendly conversation with him why is he charging so much for such shorter distance. Those days it should have been Rs.15/- or Rs.20/- maximum. I talked to him about fares in Kochi too. He told Chennai is not like Kochi, and the payment they have to make (as bribe he meant) to be driving an auto is very high. They cannot survive without such high fares.
This gives us a hint that how India’s auto system works.

Here rules are made such that nobody can follow it. So that only those who pay bribe for law-enforcers and do not follow laws can survive in the system.