Scene 1: The cab driver doesn’t turn up for an early morning airport drop. Calls to his phone and the call centre go unanswered.
Scene 2: The Cab driver doesn’t show up for an airport pick up. Reason: the flight arrival is delayed by a few minutes. The call centre frantically tries reaching the customer while he is mid air but how dare he switch off his phone?
Scene 3: In a new city, the customer has to manage with GPS as the driver is not a local person and is clueless about the route to even landmarks in the area.
Scene 4: The cab driver refuses to come to the boarding point at the railway station and insists on the customer with his family and heavy luggage trudging to some ATM point a kilometre away.
Scene 5: A customer keeps the cab waiting as he finishes a meeting. On his return, he finds his laptop missing. The driver claims he forgot to lock the car while attending nature’s call.
These are classic cases of deficiency in service, actionable under the Consumer Protection Act. But have you read the Terms Of Use of this new breed of aggregator app based cab companies?
One website claims no liability for lost or damaged items but promises to try to locate the items on a “best-effort” basis. Don’t miss a sweeping disclaimer that it does not promise “to meet the customer’s requirements” or that it will be “uninterrupted, timely or error-free.” Further, it “shall not be liable for any conduct of the drivers as it does not own any cabs nor directly or indirectly employs any drivers. It caps its total liability at Rs 1,000.
You may be rid of the haggling with auto drivers but is the ‘app a day keeping the doctored billing away?’ I have heard of fudging the waiting time, sometimes even charging customers for traffic jams and the use of fancy terms like ‘surge’, ‘dynamic pricing’ and ‘peak time’ fares, which, if gone through with a tooth comb, may amount to unfair trade practices. We’ve seen what these companies are not responsible for. Now look at what they are entitled to.
When you visit their website, their administrators will “process technical data such as your IP-address, visited web pages, your internet browser, previously visited websites and the duration of a session”. This is ostensibly to enable them “to deliver the functionalities of the website.” When you use their app, they will process more data like “your device ID or MAC- address and the manufacturer, model and operating system of your mobile device”.
When you register as a User, they will collect your name, email address, password, mobile number and other details.
Third parties may have access to such personal information — opportunities for tele-marketing companies to get hold of databases and make TRAI’s Do Not Disturb Registry a farce.
If accented apologies and free rides don’t work, these companies will resolve your dispute through arbitration, with a jurisdiction clause.
For one company, the seat of arbitration is Bengaluru and the courts in Karnataka shall have sole and exclusive jurisdiction. That’s why I prefer the more reliable tourist cab operator, even if it’s more expensive.
(Sanjay Pinto is a lawyer, columnist & author)
Decoding the ‘fare’ deal?
Waiting Time: Time taken to board the cab after pick-up time & waiting during the trip.
Rs 1 to 2 per minute. Or Rs 30 per hour
Dynamic Pricing: Charged during holidays to encourage drivers to log in
Peak-Time Surcharge: Designated & Flexible time slots like 7 am-10 am and 4 pm-7 pm.
Usually a flat extra rate or one and half times to even double the normal fare
