Commuters in metro cities are frustrated over the increasing number of cancellations on Uber, the app-based taxi service. Geetika Sachdev–a communication professional based in Gurgaon– is extremely disappointed with Uber services. “I had a crucial meeting to attend and couldn’t make it, since three cab drivers cancelled on me. The worst part is they agree to take you to the destination, and as soon as you share your address, they leave you stranded. There has also been an instance when a cab driver cancelled on me, after arriving at my pickup destination. My biggest fear is what if I need a cab during a medical emergency,” she told indianexpress.com
Pune-based dental student Uneza Q, who depends heavily on ride-hailing services to get to college, calls the taxi services worse than autos. “Last month, I almost missed my exams,” she said. Many other passengers in India have also been complaining on social media about similar incidents. It looks like Uber plans to fix some of these problems with its new policies around improving driver and rider experience.
The top reasons for most such ride cancellations are drop locations or online payment (card or UPI) chosen by customers, but deemed unfavourable by drivers. In an attempt to incentivise the right platform behaviour, drivers who meet a predefined trip acceptance threshold will now be eligible to get the destination information so that they can make an informed choice.
“To remove frustration for riders and drivers alike, we are now showing trip destinations to drivers before they decide to accept the ride. Upfront destination feature is already live across 20 cities and will be expanded to all others,” Nitish Bhushan, Director of Central Operations, Uber India wrote in an official blog post.
Drivers understandably don’t like having to drive out of their way to pick up passengers. To fix this, Uber has also introduced additional earnings for drivers in case they have to travel a long distance to pick up riders.
“Drivers will be able to see the earnings for long pick-ups, separately displayed on the fare receipt. When drivers are few, and demand is high, this will help ensure that you can get a ride when you need one,” Bhushan added.
If you’re a frequent Uber rider, chances are you must have gone through the hassle of the driver calling you up, asking whether it is a cash or online ride, and the moment you said ‘online payment’ the trip is instantly cancelled by the driver. Until now, Uber drivers were not able to see if the ride was ‘cash only’ or ‘online’. The service is now showing drivers the mode of payment (cash or online) before the trip starts. This will enable them to choose a cash-only ride if that’s what they need.
“Going a step further to make the cash or online decision irrelevant, we’ve now introduced a daily pay process for drivers. This will ensure that trip earnings from Monday to Thursday, are credited to drivers the next day, while earnings from Friday to Sunday, are credited on Monday,” the post adds.
Lastly, the company notes that it has also raised Uber fares to cushion drivers from the impact of rising fuel prices across many cities in India. “We are always striving to make driving with Uber a viable and attractive option for drivers and the recent hike in fares will directly boost their earnings per trip,” the company said.
