It hasn’t even been a week that Uber charged Ola for using unethical means to interfere in its business, that Jugnoo, an auto-rickshaw hailing & hyperlocal delivery company, has also accused Ola of the same.
Jugnoo has alleged that Ola employees are using similar ‘unethical practices’ to make fake bookings on its app and spoil its name. The employees would make a booking and then cancel it in due time, which like in Uber’s case, not only incurred losses to Jugnoo but also shooed away auto-rickshaw drivers.
A statement from the company said, “Jugnoo accuses Ola of employing unethical practices to sabotage their business and aggravate the drivers who are trying to earn a decent living by plying auto rickshaws.”
Chandigarh-based auto-rickshaw aggregator’s claims come out only a week after Uber claimed Ola is messing with their business. This strengthens the claims from Uber and maybe the Police will find evidence to prove the same.
Jugnoo has released a statement which claimed the number of fake accounts created to cause disturbance to Jugnoo’s operations. Of course, all these claims come from the data aggregated over the last month and sudden spikes were visualized for any anomalies.
Samar Singla, Co-founder and CEO – Jugnoo, said, “About 20,000 cancellations through 800 fake accounts have been reported to occur during this period. These accounts are being used to book a Jugnoo ride and then cancel it after some time, sometimes switching off the phone after booking the ride.”
The notorious bookings caused inconvenience to not only the drivers but also to people who wanted to book since the autos would always seem occupied and unavailable. This did cause huge monetary losses to Jugnoo and could potentially cause auto-rickshaw drivers to move away from the service.
What’s the proof that the bookings were made by Ola employees?
One would agree that this is a huge claim made by an Indian company, because any kind of felony does not go down well with its fans and users.
Singla further added, “We witnessed this trend almost 10 days back when all of a sudden there was a surge in booking and the cancellation rate was equally high. We started mapping the areas where the bookings were being made from and invariably pointed at places close to Ola’s office premise.”
If I look at it from an unbiased perspective, it is quite possible someone is trying to defame Ola as well. If I was a new entrant in the market, I could have done this to bring down the biggest competitors. However, if the geographic locations show place near to Ola’s office, it just strengthens the claim that the employees have been upto no good.
This fraudulent activity has been tracked in Gurgaon, Mysore and Noida and Jugnoo is ready to furnish any proofs that may be required to fast-track the case. Ola is still mum on this issue but we’re hoping to hear from them soon. It is not just a matter of business, it is also a matter of trust people have in these services.
