A lot of users prefer app-based taxi services as they find them cheaper and safer
Aswani and Shiya have two different stories to tell, both about two rickshaw rides they took. Aswani’s story happens on a day she took an auto in Thiruvananthapuram to the Museum. The driver first tells her his metre does not work, but when she tells him she’ll step out, he puts the metre on. When the ride ends, she takes out Rs 36 as shown in the metre, adds an extra one and gives it to the driver.
He tells her then, “Madam, give me Rs 50.” When she refuses, he says “Madam, nanamille?” (Are you not ashamed), throws that extra one rupee on her face and rides away.
Shiya’s story is on another day, with another rickshaw. She sees an old metre, fears how much he would charge her. But he says, “Don’t worry, you only pay me what is shown in the metre. Because of some auto rickshaw drivers, we all have a bad name now.”
These two stories are only to tell the situation in Kerala at the time app-based cab services like Uber and Ola enter the state. In Kochi, the situation is even worse, with a lot of the rickshaw drivers not even using a metre. So when Uber and Ola come with affordable rates, daily commuters turn to them, away from the local taxis and rickshaw drivers.
“They are safe, hygienic and I don’t have to spend half my energy fighting with them about the fare,” Aswani says. In nights when she comes to Thiruvananthapuram from Ernakulam, and reaches the station after 9, she feels safe to take reliable cab services.
“We can rate our drivers, and they rate us too. So next time if there is more than one person booking at the same time, we will get preference depending on our rating, like are
we punctual for instance.”
The services being app-based may appear friendly only to the smartphone-using generation. “But that’s not true. We don’t prefer it because it is app-based but because it has fixed rates. Uber charges '9 per kilometre in Kochi. If the local taxis charge those kinds of rates, we would happily use it,” says Vidya, a fashion designer in Kochi.
It is these cheap rates that resulted in an attack on the cab drivers by local groups, because the conventional taxis and auto rickshaw drivers were losing customers.
“There is a huge change. Where the junctions in Kochi used to be full of Uber cabs, now there are none. You can’t directly get on one from the main road. You have to come to a side road, because the drivers fear attack.”
Vidya also finds it reliable to trace back lost items, which can be done through the service, unlike a stray cab or rick on the road.
To address these issues (of attack), Uber has started a campaign recently — ‘Speak Up for Uber in Kochi’, says Bhavik Rathod, GM, Uber South.
“It is the livelihood of the drivers that is at stake.” There has been over a 40 % growth in the number of users in Kochi since Uber was launched nearly a year ago. In Thiruvananthapuram, it is still only a few weeks old. “A lot of people in Kerala had the app installed even before we launched, from spending days in Bangalore or Chennai.”
Like Minu Marie Mathew, a young entrepreneur who has moved to Thiruvananthapuram from Chennai. “I like to take a genuine fare than take an auto driver who charges me Rs 20 over and above the metre. It drains me of my energy to bargain.”
Ola too has been useful to people stranded in places without a rick. “Once when we were stranded at Kakkanad without any autos at our eye sight, early morning we got Ola. And the driver was very informative,” says Ajay Sathyan, a singer.
What these say is simply that people, young or old, choose what is most reliable and affordable, app or no app.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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