33k people sign petition against Uber's surge pricing

An online petition against surge pricing by one of the private cab aggregators has been supported by as many as 33,000 people from across the country.

The petition ‘Stop Using Surge Pricing To Loot Your Customers #StopSurge’ that was started by Delhi-based techie Nitish Parnami has gone viral on the internet, receiving tremendous support.

In the online petition that is up on Change.org, the petitioner has sought that Uber stop surge pricing stating reasons such as shortage of cabs and peak hours.

Speaking to Deccan Herald about his personal experience, he said, “I booked an Uber cab and I was charged 3.2 times the usual fare. I was told that this was being done as there were not enough cabs in the locality. However, on my app, it was visible that there were several cabs in the vicinity.” The incident took place two months ago and in a matter of just two days, he managed to gather 30,000 signatures for his petition, he added. 

Hoping to find several others who have faced similar issues with other cab aggregators, the techie took to the online platform to voice his disapproval. “I wanted to reach out to others who have faced same issues like me,” he said.

Even as he said that he holds nothing against the company, Parnami sought that there be transparency in the process. “We do not know whose pocket the money is going to. Whether it is the aggregators or the drivers. Also, there are no fixed peak hours nor can we check the genuineness when they claim that there is a shortage of cabs,” he added.

In what he claims to be a similar incident involving his friend, Parnami mentions another instance.

“A cab driver ended my friend’s trip halfway through when he asked the driver to wait for a couple of minutes. He had just stepped out to get some cash from an ATM. The driver asked him to rebook, this time with 2.6 times surge pricing,” he has said in the petition.
DH News Service