<p>As drivers working with Uber continue to complain about thin margins, the cab aggregator on Thursday said the price capping by fixed by the state government has affected the drivers’ earnings as two out of five passengers are cancelling their rides.</p>.<p>Head of Cities for Uber India and South Asia Prabhjeet Singh said the ceiling fixed by the transport department has led to Uber drivers<br />in Bengaluru earn about 20% less than their counterparts in Hyderabad and Mumbai.</p>.<p>Uber believes that the ceiling has affected the company’s ‘dynamic pricing’ mechanism, which decides the fare during peak and non-peak hours.</p>.<p>“The artificial capping limits fares in a dynamic market situation. This affects the operations as two out of every five riders are cancelling their rides due to prolonged waiting time, which in turn reduces the earnings,” Singh said.</p>.<p>The company also sought to dispel the widespread belief that surge in demand leads to higher fares.</p>.<p>“It is wrong to assume that fares are hiked during peak hours. As per our data, only one in five trips has surge fares. Surge pricing includes the cost spent on fuel in a congested traffic scenario. So the cap on fares will only affect drivers’ earnings,” he said.</p>.<p class="CrossHead">Multiple factors</p>.<p>When it was pointed out that drivers working with app-based cab aggregators, including Uber, had staged a massive protest against low earnings in 2017, much before the introduction of the ceiling on fares, Singh said there were multiple factors which affect the earnings of drivers, and the company would look into the issue.</p>.<p>H E Somashekhar, president of Ola, Taxi For Sure, Uber Chalakara Sene, said the government has already allowed a surge bandwidth, but it has not helped the drivers.</p>.<p>“The amount billed to the passenger is different from the one showed on our screens. For example, after the end of a recent trip, a passenger was charged Rs 400, but I received only Rs 280,” he said.</p>
<p>As drivers working with Uber continue to complain about thin margins, the cab aggregator on Thursday said the price capping by fixed by the state government has affected the drivers’ earnings as two out of five passengers are cancelling their rides.</p>.<p>Head of Cities for Uber India and South Asia Prabhjeet Singh said the ceiling fixed by the transport department has led to Uber drivers<br />in Bengaluru earn about 20% less than their counterparts in Hyderabad and Mumbai.</p>.<p>Uber believes that the ceiling has affected the company’s ‘dynamic pricing’ mechanism, which decides the fare during peak and non-peak hours.</p>.<p>“The artificial capping limits fares in a dynamic market situation. This affects the operations as two out of every five riders are cancelling their rides due to prolonged waiting time, which in turn reduces the earnings,” Singh said.</p>.<p>The company also sought to dispel the widespread belief that surge in demand leads to higher fares.</p>.<p>“It is wrong to assume that fares are hiked during peak hours. As per our data, only one in five trips has surge fares. Surge pricing includes the cost spent on fuel in a congested traffic scenario. So the cap on fares will only affect drivers’ earnings,” he said.</p>.<p class="CrossHead">Multiple factors</p>.<p>When it was pointed out that drivers working with app-based cab aggregators, including Uber, had staged a massive protest against low earnings in 2017, much before the introduction of the ceiling on fares, Singh said there were multiple factors which affect the earnings of drivers, and the company would look into the issue.</p>.<p>H E Somashekhar, president of Ola, Taxi For Sure, Uber Chalakara Sene, said the government has already allowed a surge bandwidth, but it has not helped the drivers.</p>.<p>“The amount billed to the passenger is different from the one showed on our screens. For example, after the end of a recent trip, a passenger was charged Rs 400, but I received only Rs 280,” he said.</p>
