Hyderabad: When Mr Sandeep Kumar booked a Uber cab from Vanasthalipuram to Raheja Mind Space IT Park at Hitec City on Wednesday morning, the fare displayed was Rs 3,566, which led him to Tweet sarcastically: “Check out the cheap cost from Vanasthalipuram to Hitec City”.
Mr Rohit Akshay booked an Uber from Rail Nilayam to financial district in Nanakramguda and was shocked to see the fare of Rs 1,518, which is Rs 387 on any other day.
IT employee Ms S. Pratyusha cancelled the cab service she had booked after the fare on her mobile showed Rs 730 for a trip from Mehdipatnam to Gachibowli which on normal days is Rs 160. It was the same case with Ms Sruthi Chanuval who balked at four times the normal fare.
These are not isolated cases. Many citizens complained that Uber and Ola cabs on Wednesday, in the name of surge pricing, charging four to five times more than the normal fare that too in the hour of crisis – when it was raining heavily and they needed the cab services.
“It is the month-end and many of us have not got our salaries credited in our bank accounts; and this four to five times extra charge by Ola and Uber cabs is really hurting. The Telangana government should follow the footsteps of the Delhi government in controlling surge pricing. How can the government do nothing while app-based cab services fleece people?” asked Ms Anjani Srivatsa, a software firm employee.
Commuters said both Ola and Uber had developed an image of giving cab services at reasonable rates. “That image was drowned in the rain water and into the sewer network in Hyderabad on Wednesday. When the situation needed a humane approach, the managements proved they were only interested in earning money,” said Mr Praveen A. Rao.
When DC booked cabs through Ola and Uber, the surge pricing was about three times, with the Uber management claiming it was being done to attract more drivers on to the roads.
Telangana transport minister P. Mahender Reddy told DC that the government would soon control the fares of even app-based cab services like Ola and Uber.
Meanwhile auto-rickshaws proved to be a better option on Wednesday though some demanded more than the meter fare.
