Bengalureans, have you booked an Ola or Uber cab and got tired of the long wait for your ride? Well, looks like you are not alone. Many residents of the city are facing the same issue. And looks like we have finally found the reason for the same. Bengaluru drivers are slowly getting off these apps and preferring zero-commission apps, Telegram and even WhatsApp for bookings. Here’s how.
Bengaluru Drivers Use WhatsApp & Telegram Groups To Get Rides
As per a report by Moneycontrol, Ola and Uber in the tech capital of India are having a tough time in retaining their drivers. Zero-commission apps like Namma Yatri and even Telegram and WhatsApp are giving tough competition to the Ola-Uber duopoly. So, the lesser availability of drivers simply means you’ve got to wait longer for your ride.
Cab drivers have duty groups on messaging apps. Moneycontrol got their hands on these apps used by Bengaluru drivers. The first type of group only consists of drivers who pass on leads to others if they are unavailable or unable to fulfil the trip request. The next group consists of drivers, representatives from admin departments of tech parks, IT firms, travel agents and other private companies. In this group, drivers can get see requirements for intracity trips for employees after office hours, posted by companies.
There’s Also A Group For IT Employees & Airport Drivers
They can choose to fulfil those rides as per their availability. Few drivers also add regular customers to these closed groups. Well, using Telegram and WhatsApp benefits both the drivers and the customers. Drivers don’t need to pay commissions. And customers can just pay the fares fixed by the government.
One driver union Karnataka Chalakara Okkota started such groups to combat high commissions charged by Ola and Uber. Interestingly, there is also an app just for airport drivers. R Nagaraju, a cab driver stated to Moneycontrol that Ola-Uber charges ₹1,000 for an airport trip. Drivers only get paid ₹650-700 after deducting the commission charges. By accepting bookings through these groups, drivers ensure they keep the entire fare to themselves.
Bengalureans, now that you know the reason behind the long wait for a ride, would you switch to using zero-commission apps instead for your ride bookings?
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