HYDERABAD: The bike riders or cab and auto drivers who cancel the customers’ rides booked online can be brought before law under Section 178 of the Motor Vehicles Act. Cab-drivers will be challaned by a minimum of Rs 500 (for four-wheelers and above), said Vijay Kumar, additional commissioner of Hyderabad traffic police.
The residents have been complaining about the abrupt cancellation of online bookings by cabs, autos, and bikes and of the long waiting hours till a vehicle comes in.
Vijay Kumar said, “Not many are aware that the police can help a complainant if he or she sends details of the rider or driver who cancels a ride or refuses to do the pickup, through twitter handle @hydp. They can also contact the Hyderabad Traffic Police helpline number at 9010203626. We immediately take action.”
City residents said they have to endlessly try to book a cab for around 30 minutes arguing and pleading. Mehul Kumar, a 26-year-old businessman, who often uses cabs to commute, said, “It’s a hassle to book a cab as it takes around 40 minutes. On an average I cancel bookings five times before a driver agrees to take me to my destination.” “They usually ask for the location by calling me and if the place takes about 25-30 minutes to reach, they simply cut the call. It would be difficult for them to get rides on return run.”
The issue is also about them being fooled by drivers by saying they would reach the location soon but do not. Phebe Beri, a 24-year-old corporate hand said she mostly books an auto online and waits for long till the auto driver accepts the request. If he does, she will have to wait for a longer time till he comes to the location, and eventually cancels the ride or asks the customer to cancel it. “Sometimes it is not even about the distance. They just don’t want to take the rides and they keep calling. Once they know the location, they at times cancel the rides,” said Phebe. “Fortunately, I have not been in trouble. But what about those who urgently need to get out of a place and cannot find a ride,” she asked, adding that “The charges are exorbitant.” Most of the cab users say cabs are not at all reliable even when they pre-book and pre schedule it.
Also, cab drivers sometimes pressurise customers to cancel the rides themselves and ask them to change their mode of payment from online to cash. Siddharth Ved, a 27-yearold businessman who uses cabs, said he gets repeated calls before finding a driver who finally agrees. He has stopped telling them the location because he might not come. “It gets irritating and is very time-consuming. It is not even about day or night, they just do not want to go to suburbs as they would often have to “return without a ride and waste fuel. They also ask me to change my payment mode from online to cash as the company pays them the money after 15 to 20 days,” said Siddharth.
He said the pre-book and pre-schedule option is of little help as even those rides are cancelled at the end moment. Other residents who use cabs also said the drivers are not paid the entire amount by the company and thus they demand cash payment on the spot. Most of those who are raising the complaints are Ola and Uber drivers and riders.
However, when Deccan Chronicle spoke to those in a cab service provider company, they said, “It gives the drivers the authority to take the ride or not take the ride — if they cancel too much, they are even penalised. Several background checks are also conducted and if a driver cancels a lot of rides, he will be penalised.”
