How to kill a perfectly working cab service

Bengaluru historically has never been public transport-friendly – one reason for the huge rise in the numbers of private vehicles. In this bleak scenario, the arrival of cab aggregators like Uber and Ola unexpectedly lifted the quality and ease of commuting in the city. The entry of these new-age cab services revolutionised travel options. 

Unfortunately, the ossified bureaucracy backed by a misguided and feudal–minded  government is attempting to use its enormous clout to clamp down on the app-driven cab service, all in the name of the people. It is a classic case of “How to ruin a perfectly good working model”. The app-driven taxi service,  using innovative technology, has for the first time, brought about a sense of fairness, reliability and ease of travel – none of which the government or the local authorities had been able to do since Bengaluru started to grow into a bustling megalopolis.

As a regular user of these cab services since it started a couple of years ago, this writer among others, has faced no problems at all in any which way. Countless vehicle owners have stopped using their own cars and two-wheelers, instead preferring to use the app-driven taxis. The government’s excuse that the cabs are not conforming to the existing rules is untenable as the app-based technology is something that no one could have foreseen when the rules  were framed many moons ago.  

In an Internet-driven era, especially in a place like Bengaluru which prides itself as India’s digital city, rules must be changed to accommodate new technologies. Not the other way round. For instance, the government’s insistence on fixing a meter to these cabs must rank among the most juvenile of requirements. Meters can be tampered, go out of order and cause numerous other problems but the metering based on GPS technology is error-free and completely non-controversial.

Drivers cannot take passengers for a ride, again due to the maps that come along with the technology. The painful haggling over fare is history with the GPS. That the officials have the gumption asking for meters to be fixed is ludicrous, to say the least.

The government is holding on to surge pricing as the leverage to squeeze the aggregator cabs out of service. But the point is, in the age of dynamic fares, prices will vary with demand. And, the app clearly informs the rider of the surge and gives them the option of not hiring the cab. Only after getting the okay from the customer does the deal go through.  If any customer feels that the surge is too high, there are always other ways to commute. So why hold this against the aggregator?

In recent times, with people aware of the dangers of drunken driving, the app-driven cabs have proved to be a great advantage. Cabs are available right into the night and early morning on weekends. This has helped make the city much safer for other road-users. These taxis have inadvertently helped break the back of the autorickshaw mafia which routinely fleeces people at bus stands, railway stations and at odd times  of the day and night. 

Benefits drivers too

And, it is not just the commuter who benefits. App-based cab drivers sing hosannas to the system. For the first time, drivers say they are getting their earnings on time, earn several times more than  when they were driving for travel agencies or even for individual car owners. Many, who earned only enough for their subsistence, have today accumulated enough money to buy their own cars.

The result: an entire underclass has been economically lifted, thanks to the app-driven technology. Several people who suffered unemployment and languished in mofussil towns across Karnataka say internet-driven cabs  have for the first time empowered them financially.  

The government’s other contention is cabs must have licences for the safety of passengers. The aggregators have already incorporated systems that have fulfilled the need for security with facilities like ride-sharing, SOS buttons etc. Obviously, there will be rogue drivers but that doesn’t mean all app-driven cabs should be banned.  If that were the case,  autos, buses and trains should have also been shut down as there have been innumerable cases of sexual assault in these vehicles.

With so many advantages, what then is provoking the Karnataka Transport Department to clamp down on the aggregators? The only logical conclusion is that the powerful transport lobby with its scores of travel agencies is suffering because cabs are no longer willing to work for them. 

The other possibility is that the government is unable to comprehend a near-parallel public transport service with no help from officialdom and is attempting to assert its importance, even if it means inconveniencing thousands of cab users.

If Bengaluru had been a city with its own taxi network like Mumbai or New York and the aggregators had threatened the livelihood of the existing taxi drivers, the government’s moves could have been understandable. Instead, Bengaluru which has always been starved off a good public transport network and the total absence of a city-based taxi service, badly needed the services of the aggregator cabs.

Not just that, companies like Uber and Ola have managed to bring in innovative services like Uber Pool which is eco-friendly and Uber Partnership which go well with the needs of a huge city like Bengaluru. Most government-driven services are inefficient. Take the case of the property tax mess which the city is currently going through. In this scenario, the privately-owned app-driven taxi system is one  which has worked very well. That the government is trying to kill it off instead of facilitating its existence in the interests of commuters, is most unfortunate.