I came across this interesting post on Facebook by Ruche Mittal (Tip: Anand Muglikar) on Facebook that tells you the other side of the story of wars between Meru, Ola and Uber. The post is based on the conversation Ruche had with a cab driver while on a journey from home to Airport. The driver who told this works for all 3 cab aggregators, and so has a real understanding of how all of the three work and his preferences out of the three.
This sure makes for a fascinating read and something that most of the consumers will not be aware of. Do read and let us know what you think.
[Note: The text is produced verbatim, except minor grammatical corrections.]
Learning on a journey from home to airport – through a cab driver…
we discussed the difference between Ola, Meru and Uber… and which is the best company to work with … so the cabby I was in was booked through Uber but he also works with Meru and Ola… Which means each of these organizations are not only in the space of cab services but are actually tech companies… how???
Meru has big office 500 people working – and charges ?19.50 per km. Driver gives commission and an advance of ?2000 to get business worth ?15000.
Business is decent but address is confusing. Drivers here are also the owners of the cars. Meru gives an app to the drivers on android, but the app does not have google map and hence getting to the customer without calling him/her at times becomes difficult… and this small thing may spoil the experience cos at times. Travellers are busy with last min packing or stuff and does not want to spend time in sharing address…Ola has vendors and individual drivers connect with vendors. – They charge ?10 per km. Driver gives commission and an advance of ?2000 to get business worth ?15000. Business is high but no profit. because of low prices the brand does not seem to have a good name with drivers cos people also with requirements of “take dog out for walk”, “get the raashan” which the cab drivers do not like… Small cars are available.
Uber has no office. Direct customer & driver connect. It is Cashless. They charge ?15per km. Basic fare ?50. Per min ?1. Uber does weekly deposits to the drivers account and they take cars worth more than ?8lacs. Drivers of the cars are only owners… and they are given iPhones free of charge. the plus thing is the google map – the drivers feel that this way they do not have to ask for location and it is easier to go by… and also the connect happens over message so it is very easy, direct and timeless…
All in all, here are 3 models of a cab, technology, to look into… also this cab driver that I met is happy with uber the most.… then when he does not get customer through Uber in an area would on his meru app and Ola is his last choice.
He said he likes Uber cos there is no “chikchik”… with meru he would make a little extra money but the whole experience around the address, customer, and then going to meru office to deposit money etc is too time consuming…
with Uber everything is online and the quality of customer is much better…
Isn’t this an entirely new view for you. Atleast, it was for me!
What do you think?
Thank you for sharing this. The post made me understand what N.N. Taleb meant by “Uberized”. Clearly the technology that removes the middleman is beneficial for the customer and the entrepreneur with ‘Skin in the game’ and therefore; for the society.
(Taxi for Sure ?)
Thanks once again,
Bhupender
[…] is what Cab Drivers think about Ola, Meru and Uber. the driver in question is talking about his experience with all 3 providers and which one does he […]
Yes. One of the OLA Cab driver {i’ve travelled twice} said the same.
he’s moving to UBER soon. as OLA is not paying him good.