Govt. Approved Surge Pricing For Ola, Uber: 3X Surge Of The Base Fare Will Be Made A Rule Soon!

Do you travel by Ola and Uber often? This news will probably sting you!

The Government has decided to allow these cab services to hike their charges for customers during times where the demand is high.

And this hike will be thrice as much as normal rates of the cabs.

Apparently, this is as per the new rules being meant to put in place by the Government for the cab aggregators and the cab industry. 

Find out more details about the new rules for Ola and Uber right here!

Ola And Uber To Hike Prices Three Times Than Before

Ola and Uber have previously insisted on increasing the prices of rides for the sake of maintaining a balance between the demand and supply of cabs during peak times.

New rules have been drafted for the cab aggregators, wherein there will be a specific allowable limit for these price hikes. There will also be other guidelines that agree with the same which were proposed in December 2016.

An official close to the happenings said, “Surge pricing is intrinsic to the demand and supply situation (of cab aggregators). Like with the December 2016 guidelines, our policy will mention surge pricing and what should be the kind of capping, among other things.”

The official has also remarked, “But they’ll have to come up with reasoning in case of local variations, which is fine.”

New Rules Drafted By The Government: What Do They Say And How Will The Public React?

The new rules have been drafted so as to follow the new motor vehicle law. 

The newly proposed rules have identified Uber and Ola as digital intermediaries or marketplaces. Up until now, they had been deprived of such a distinct identity, causing them to operate in a grey zone. 

As per reports, states will now be flexible to change rules as they see fit. Karnataka is the first state in the country to regulate cab aggregators and the state has put a higher and a base limit on the fare decided by such apps.

For luxury cabs, the variance has been set for 2.25% between the upper and lower level fares, and it is 2X for smaller cabs. 

We are quite positive that people who prefer travelling by cabs are not going to be very happy with the surge in pricing. A survey has cemented our opinion when it showed that 39% of the 51000 respondents have openly expressed that their primary issue with cab aggregators is the hike in fees. 

We’ll keep you informed as more updates come in!