Don’t blame only cabbies for ride cancellations, their earnings shrunk too

• One of the main reasons behind the cabbies asking riders to cancel rides is high commissions charged by the cab aggregators.
• As per Jobsgaar report, the average monthly earnings of cab drivers have dropped at least by ₹4,400.
• The added charges are making cab drivers resort to other means to increase prices — like charging extra for turning on the AC.

The next time you book an Uber or an Ola and the driver cancels the rides and charges a cancellation fee, don’t blame just the driver. The cab aggregators too have a part to play in this.

The cab drivers have to pay at least 25-30% of their earnings as commissions to the aggregators. This is one of the main reasons behind the cabbies asking riders to cancel rides - which is burdening the consumers with extra fees.

“The cab companies are currently failing to bridge this expectation versus reality issues with the cab drivers causing a lot of trip cancellations and baffling the end-users,” said a report by Jobsgaar, shared exclusively with Business Insider India.

These commissions come in addition to the skyrocketing fuel prices, which is already hitting their margins. As per the report, the average monthly earnings of cab drivers have dropped at least by ₹4,400. The expected average monthly earning of cab drivers was ₹22,000, which reduced to ₹17,600.

As complaints rise, authorities step in

The added charges are making cab drivers resort to other means to increase prices — like charging extra for turning on the AC. Currently, the average fare is less than ₹12-13 per km, however, the drivers are asking at least ₹24-25 per km for turning on the AC, as it adds extra fuel cost.

Another survey, cited by the Times of India, revealed that over 88% of the riders have been forced to cancel the rides by the drivers, while 46% of the respondents said that the drivers asked them to pay extra for the air conditioner in the car.

As per the data from the National Consumer Helpline (NCH), 2482 grievances were registered by consumers against Ola,and 770 grievances were registered against Uber between April 1, 2021, to May 1, 2022.

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) called out the cab aggregators Uber and Ola seeking details about their policies after the complaints.

“We have received several complaints from consumers regarding the cancellation and pricing policy of cab aggregators. The number of complaints are very high and therefore we have called the cab aggregators for explanation of their policies,” CCPA told PTI in an interview.

There are new policies

Both Uber and Ola have introduced new policies to protect their drivers. Uber has claimed that they have raised fares to cushion drivers from the impact of rising fuel prices.

“We are now showing trip destinations to drivers before they decide to accept the ride. Drivers who meet a predefined trip acceptance threshold will be eligible to get the destination information so that they can make an informed choice,” said Nitin Bhushan, Uber India head in a statement.

Uber also introduced a daily pay process for drivers and is showing earnings for long pickups on the fare receipt on its driver portal.

“For the past several months Ola drivers have been able to see the ride destination and also mode of payment before accepting bookings” said Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder of Ola. However, they made no statements on the commissions that they are charging.

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