Record 292 Cases Filed Against Uber, Ola For Overcharging Customers In This Indian City!

A cab ride in Bengaluru can cost anything between the actual price of the ride and an exorbitant surcharge with an upto over 100% cap.

The Transport Department of Karnataka has informed receiving a multitude of complaints from travelers across the city about exorbitant cab prices being charged by cab aggregators like Ola and Uber.

T.H.M. Kumar, the Transport Commissioner of the state has booked 292 cases for charging excess fares from commuters. 

The Transport Department of the state carried out a drive, in response to a plethora of complaints regarding a surcharge in cab fares, against Ola, Uber and other operators across Bengaluru, inducing areas like Anand Rao Circle, Majestic, Jayanagar bus stand, Hennur cross road, KSR-Bengaluru railway station, and Devanahalli road near Kempegowda International Airport, among others.

Some troubled passengers have sent complaints to even the Chief Minister and other dignitaries of the state government, demanding actions against such surcharge. 

A Hindu report on the same, enlists complaints from the passengers, one of which reads, “It has been months, travelling in the city has become too expensive. There were instances of apps showing up to ?100 for a three kilometer stretch. Long distance travel to the airport and others has become very expensive.”

The Transport Commissioner has said, “General public has been complaining that aggregators such as Ola and Uber are charging excess fares. In the past, the State government had fixed fares that are applicable for the taxi aggregators. They have to fix the fare as per the slab fixed by the government and cannot take passengers for a ride.”

A Twitter user has mentioned, “A 15 minute drive to Bengaluru Cox Town area Ola auto shows 60% more than an a meter fare usually it cost only 45rs to 50rs but Ola is dammmmmm cheating 105 rs for 2 kms ride where the hell out nation is going on.”

The CEO of the Ken, Rohin Dahrmakumar said, “A ~1 hour Uber to Bengaluru airport costs 60-130% the price of a ~1.5 hour flight to Mumbai.”

The Joint commissioner of the transport department, K T Halaswamy has said that cabbies in the city will be charged with a fine of Rs 500 for charging an excess fare. 

“We will also serve notices asking the taxi aggregators seeking their response. Based on their reply, the department will take further action,” he added.