'Impossible to get a ride even on a cloudy day'

In the past few months, Bengaluru has been witnessing sudden and unpredictable spells of rain. Bengalureans have been complaining about long waits and cancellations by drivers attached to the cab aggregators such as Ola and Uber.

Although commute options are plenty on paper, these disappear when it rains. Rains also trigger a surge in demand as cabs and autorickshaws virtually vanish from the maps.

Instances such as these lead to people scrambling desperately to find cabs or autos.

As the demand rises, the aggregators give up on the stuck customers and when you find one, the drivers pressure you to pay extra charges.

On surge charges on rainy days, Manje Gowda, an autorickshaw driver from Dinnur Road says, “Sometimes, the apps fail to sense the downpour in certain parts of the city. It then becomes a big trouble for us to accept the request of our customers.”

Also Read | Rain-time commute is every taxi-hooked Bengalurean's worst nightmare

“We do not want to give a ride on rainy days without any applicable surge charges on customers as it is the bare minimum we ask from the aggregators. Also, we put our vehicle and ourselves at stake to fulfill the need of customers to reach home safely even in heavy rains. I feel we deserve extra earning for our efforts,” he adds.

However, the situation becomes worse when the drivers stay put on roadsides while customers plead for a drive through different apps. This happens because of an instinct of ‘income targeting’ or ‘target earning’.

Nagaraja C, an autorickshaw driver attached to Uber explains, “Once we check the weather forecast of the day and a downpour is expected in the later part of the day, most auto and cab drivers try to complete the target earning as soon as possible to avoid providing rides in the raining hours.”

A few hardworking drivers do get ready to provide service to the needy population during rainy days. But their numbers are dwindling nowadays.

“I find it next to impossible to get a ride even on a cloudy day when I have to start on a little longer trip. Especially, auto drivers refuse to pick passengers from busy areas due to the loss they might face. It is not on them at all, I feel. According to many auto drivers, the minimum base fare is less and they do not get adequately compensated for their extra efforts,” says Anusha Balasubramaniam, a student of Reva University.

Currently, 20 per cent of a trip’s fare revenue goes to the aggregators, and around 75 per cent to the driver after excluding taxes. On average, drivers are expected to complete 62 trips per week which seems much less when compared to the amount of congestion in the city.

“I get badly cancelled by many auto and cab drivers for which I have often paid penalties. This is unfair for the commuters who are dependent on these drivers for their everyday travel,” notes Pavan Thimmaiah, a student of NSoJ.

Many drivers are expecting a removal of the cap on fare structure in the city. Bengaluru recorded the second highest number of Uber trips followed by Hyderabad and Kolkata in the year 2020.

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