Destined to wait

The worst side of Bengaluru comes to the fore when it rains and the traffic goes kaput.

Past few days, the city has been receiving sporadic rains and predictably, normal life was thrown out of gear.

As usual, commuters found it extremely difficult to find cabs, especially Ola and Uber. Many of them even reporting late to work with no means of transport.

Blogger Ann Geo says, "Cab aggregators are at its worst when it's raining. Even though on the app, you can see the availability of cabs and autos in your vicinity, none of them accepts your request. I end up waiting quite a long time to get a cab. Thankfully, I have the option to work from home, so it was alright although I was late."

Rain or no rain, getting a cab during peak hours is also something many commuters  struggle with. Working in Electronic City,  customer care executive Nishant Srinivas often has to wait for long to find a cab to return home. He says, "I don't have a vehicle of my own, so I rely on public transport. I haven't had terrible experiences but sharing a cab with someone else is a nightmare. The other person's drop location might not be on the way to my area which adds to the travel time."

He also says that many cab drivers end up cancelling your ride while they are on the way to pick you up, resulting in one having to pay the cancellation charges.

Last weekend, instructional designer Rhea Gopal, had to stay back at office for a long time as she couldn't find a cab. She says, "My friend and I had to walk down in the rain, find an autorickshaw   and paid twice as much as we would have otherwise."

She says the behaviour of the cab and auto drivers are sometimes unacceptable.

There are a few new cab aggregators that have been trying to make their way with commuters but without much headway.

Rhea says, "I downloaded the 'Namma TYGR' app but I didn't understand why they needed my PAN card and Aadhaar details. I wasn't comfortable sharing those details, so I opted out of it."

Surcharges during bad weather and peak hours is also a problem that many commuters face.

Naveen Suresh, a food blogger, says, "The cab drivers know that they are well in demand during these times, so they increase their rates. I'm not a fan of this but I guess desperate times calls for desperate measures!"

That's why he doesn't mind looking out for other cab aggregators. "I've also used 'Utoo Cabs' but their service isn't available everywhere. Having said that, I don't really mind which cab service I use, as long as it takes me to my destination," says Naveen.