Cabs have always been the source for intense discussions. Our decision at home to go for a car was because we were not happy with cab-culture in Delhi. From drivers unwilling to give you a metered ride to those who asked for sums that even the Gods would have refused, this city had trouble written all over. The kaali-peeli cabs got captioned as ‘cheats you cannot beat’, ‘meander kings’, and ‘never there on time’ and, therefore, the arrival of services like Ola and Uber were welcomed with open minds. There was always the option to hire cabs from private agencies and it is still available.
Going from one place to another is unavoidable. The reasons for short- and long-term and short- and long-distance travel could range from intensely personal to utterly ludicrous with logical and professional falling somewhere mid-way. But let us stay focused on the sort of options that road travel on four wheels is poised to give us all. Despite all forms of protests, I am still unconvinced about talking positive about the kaali-peeli taxi-cabs because they are still the sorts I have mentioned in the initial paragraph. The private cab services at one time were a hoity-toity lot and known for their high charges but then that was probably because they had their fleets of expensive cars. With the entry of on-demand aggregator-model services like Uber and Ola, a new set of alarming terminology for the consumer or user slowly emerged. Words like surge-rate and spike-charge became the new demons on four wheels… but then most people in this business agree with the logic behind them and feel that users need to view them with commercial empathy. A recent article pointed towards a greater atrocity that was being aimed at the drivers of cabs under the aggregator model. The article begins by emphasizing that ‘in the wake of strong dissent expressed by Indian Taxi drivers, it is worth asking whether the aggregator model is one which can keep both the customer as well as the supplier (the taxi driver, in this case) happy? As we speak, numerous taxi unions are on an indefinite strike in major cities like Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi with an overarching complaint- India’s two most popular on-demand cab companies are not helping drivers earn enough; in fact the daily earn for some cab drivers has plummeted by 80% over the last 6 months.’
As I read the article mentioned I realized that worrisome issues plague the lives of not just the commuter but even the driver. An organization cannot always get away by saying that they need funds to not just reinvest in the expensive and ever-changing and ever-evolving technology but also in a series of activities that are essential for survival in an environment that is more than just competitive. The same concerns actually apply to the drivers of a service and even they need to be a part of the profits that accrue due to surges and spikes. I am certainly with the suffering drivers on the issue of their income getting usurped by new policies that suddenly appear. Their protest is valid and they deserve to be heard.
However, what happens to the consumer or user or commuter in the meanwhile? Why must those wanting to travel on four wheels be made to suffer? There are private car hires available and one that I came across happened to be Savaari Car Rentals who call themselves ‘India’s premier intercity car rental service provider that provides chauffeur driven cabs in 98 cities across India’. These people are primarily into intercity travel where the in-cab time each day is upwards of five hours. What is different with them and others like them is that their payments to their drivers is based on on-the-ground execution capabilities which means that driver skills and the way he interacts with commuters becomes important. Their blog states that ‘with this value-based service offering, drivers and other suppliers are engaged in transparent contracts that have healthy payouts, one of the best in the industry‘.
The only reason for picking up the Savaari case as an example is that it isn’t the surges and spikes that the commuter must be primarily concerned about but he needs to know what happens to the profits made through them. What percent of such profits are barreled back to the driver? Are services ensuring the skill development of their drivers? A disgruntled driver isn’t going to give any of us a ride that is full of smiles.
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Surges, Spikes, and Skills… cab services in India
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Arvind Passey
25 March 2018
