Re: Bike taxi app Rapido launching cab services to take on Uber, Ola Ola / Uber duopoly needs a challenge
Hopefully Rapido will be take lessons from the pain points of Uber and Ola to become more Customer friendly and most importantly driver friendly
Simple things:
*Rapido doesn’t have to take commissions in the 20 to 30% range (this is what Uber / Ola take - link ) The same values have been shared by many Uber/Ola drivers I interacted with. Settle for 2.5% with a minimum cut of say Rs 25
Advantage: Trend of Driver cancelling trip , asking rider to cancel trip in app, but dropping passenger for same or even discounted fare will stop. Plugs revenue holes for aggregator and enhances safety for customer
* Fair pricing for drivers - Use fare decided by respective State Govt. Add a fuel surcharge to account for hike in fuel price depend on fuel of vehicle (petrol/CNG). Eg: Kerala had revised auto / taxi fares from 01 May 2022. Fuel price as on 01 May 22 to be base price. Based on % of hike in fuel price add fuel surcharge (to be done state wise as fuel charges vary from state to state)
* Have a system to verify Insurance/ Fitness/ Permit and driving license validity before allowing driver to accept a ride.
* Have saner surge pricing , with caps at 2x fare in peak hours and 3x at ungodly hours, especially if drop point is at locations where return trips to drivers home / preferred area of operation (Railway Station/ malls / Airports ) are not generally not available even after a reasonable amount of waiting. (Aggregator will have to crunch figures based on accumulated trip data)
* Operate ethically and not like what Uber did internationally - link and link. Even in India ride aggregators have managed to convince GOI that 20% commissions are necessary - link |