Survey finds that 79% of app taxi users consider ‘driver canceling ride’ as the most important issue

Currently, app-based taxi service providers like Ola, Uber, and Rapido among others have become an important part of the modern lifestyle. Although business volume hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels, the app-based taxi business is happening there as they saw almost 70% of both the value and volume of rides seen before the epic Covid lockdown in March 2020. has recovered.

However, there has been a rise in complaints of drivers canceling rides or asking customers to do so because they do not want to travel to the destination address or they demand cash payments instead of digital ones. In addition, other issues such as long wait times, driver abuse, exorbitantly escalating fees, and worse than all extortion have raised eyebrows about the security protocols of these app-based taxi services. Uber and Ola also faced lawsuits for their alleged lack of concern for their users.

In 2017, the Supreme Court said there is a need to regulate app-based transport service providers and ensure the safety of women passengers. Both Ola and Uber introduced 24×7 safety helplines, however, negative sentiments remain for the taxi aggregator app among consumers, with ride cancellations, surge pricing, customer service and safety among the major concerns.

Also, 15 months after the Motor Vehicle Guidelines came into force, the local circle has gone back to the consumers to understand their current issues with the ride-hailing service provided by Ola, Uber, Rapido so that the related Stakeholders may take appropriate interventions to address them. It also sought to understand whether the motor vehicle aggregator guidelines introduced by the government are effective in addressing driver cancellations and pricing issues faced by app taxi users.

LocalCircles conducted a survey that got over 65,000 responses from app taxi users living in 324 districts of India. Of these, 66% of the participants were male while 34% were female. Meanwhile, 48% of the respondents were from Tier 1 districts, 31% from Tier 2 and 21% from Tier 3, 4 and rural districts.

The first question consumers were asked in the survey was the number of times they traveled in app-based taxis in the past 12 months. In response, 2% said they had traveled in the app-based taxi “more than 100 times” in the past 12 months. 1% said they had traveled “51-100 times”, 5% said “26-50 times”, 3% said “11-25 times”, 13% said “6-10 times”, and 34% said “1-5 times” this year. Breaking down the survey, 42% said they “have not traveled in an app-based taxi this year”. Overall, 58% of App Taxis consumers say they have traveled in App Taxi in the past 12 months. This question got 15,051 responses in the survey.

Furthermore, respondents mentioned that convenience is the biggest reason they used App Taxis in the last 12 months. When asked about the top reason for using app taxis in the past 12 months, in response, 27% of consumers said they “didn’t want to use public transport for safety reasons”, and 17% said “personal vehicles or were not “drivers available this year”. 21% said they “found them convenient”, and 23% found them “safe and convenient”. 10% cited “other reasons”, and 2% were of the opinion Survey findings suggest that “convenience” is the top reason consumers have used App Taxis in the past 12 months. This question received 10,441 responses in the survey.

The next question asked App Taxi users about the most common experience they had while taking an app-based taxi in the past 12 months, specifically with regard to compliance with COVID protocols of masking, social distancing and hygiene or sanitation. In response, 35% of app-based taxi users this year said compliance with masking, social distancing and hygiene/sanitation was “good”, 11% said it was “average”, and 7% said it was “average”. was bad. Poll, 16% said “compliance with masking and social distancing was good but cleanliness/sanitation was average”. 13% said “compliance with masks and social distancing was average but hygiene/sanitation was poor”. 9% said “compliance with masking and social distancing was good but hygiene/sanitation was poor”. Only 2% said “there is no compliance with masking, social distancing and hygiene/sanitation protocols. 7% can’t say. Overall, 60% of app taxi users are happy with masking in the last 12 months and, however, drivers’ social distancing.” They demand improvement in hygiene/sanitation compliance in distancing compliance. This question received 10,562 responses in the survey.

While 60% of app taxi users are happy with masking and social distancing compliance, only 35% are happy with hygiene compliance. If the reasons given by app taxi users are evaluated in order of satisfaction, it turns out that 60% rated compliance with masking and social distancing as “good”, 24% “average” and 9% as “average”. Rated “Bad”. On the other hand, only 35% rated cleanliness/hygiene compliance as “good”, 27% rated it “average” and 31% rated it “poor”.

“Driver canceling ride” consumers faced with App Taxis over the past 12 months over the top issues of surge pricing.

The questions in the survey tried to understand the top app taxi users faced with app-based taxis in the past 12 months. In response, 47% said “driver cancellation” was their biggest issue with app-based taxis in the past 12 months, while 32% said they had an issue about “surge pricing.” 9% said their top issue was “long wait times”, 4% said “cancellation fees”, 5% said “safety issues”, and 3% said “masks, social distancing and hygiene/sanitation”. Non-compliance of COVID protocols as the top issue they faced with app-based taxis in the last 12 months. Overall, the “driver canceling ride” app was the biggest problem for taxi users, followed by “Surge Pricing” was encountered. This question received 10,342 responses in the survey.

71 per cent of App Taxi users said that despite the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines 2020 being in force, the problem of ride cancellation by the driver persists, indicating poor enforcement.

Taking cognizance of this issue, the next question in the survey asked app taxi users about the experience of cancellation of rides by a driver in the past 15 months as compared to the previous one. In response, 7% said there has been “some slight improvement” and 3% said there has been a “significant improvement” in the issue of driver cancellations over the past 15 months. 10% of App Taxi users said they have “not encountered any cancellations”, while 9% could not say. Notably, 71% of the app taxi users say that the issue of cancellation of rides by the driver continues despite the Motor Vehicle Guidelines 2020. Being in place indicates poor enforcement. This question received 9,666 responses in the survey.

45% of App Taxi users say they were charged more than 1.5 times in surge pricing, despite the limit as set out by Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines 2020, reflecting poor implementation and enforcement.

Similar to discouraging drivers to cancel rides, motor vehicle aggregator guidelines also capped pricing at 1.5 times the base fare. However, most of the states are yet to implement the guidelines and many consumers have complained that the high escalation price is still being charged. The following question sought app taxi users experience with increased pricing in the last 15 months since the guidelines compared to the first. In response, 45% of App Taxi users said that they “paid more than 50% of the base fare in the surge charge”, and another 22% said they “only paid the surge charge between 0-50% of the base fare”. have paid”. Breaking down the survey, 13% of App Taxi users said they “do not need to pay any escalation charges”, while 20% could not say. This question received 9,129 responses in the survey.

In short, 58 percent of App Taxi users surveyed have traveled in App Taxi in the last 12 months. Most consumers have cited “convenience” as the top reason for using app taxis over the past 12 months, and many of them are happy that drivers were complying with masking and social distancing protocols. That said, compliance by drivers of app-based taxis should be equally followed by consumers wanting to improve cleanliness or hygiene. On the other hand, “driver canceling ride”, followed by “surge pricing” are the top consumer concerns that require immediate attention from the authorities and are causing consumer dissatisfaction.

If a driver requests or does so on his own to cancel a ride from a consumer, the platform must enforce an explicit disincentive. Despite Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines 2020, 71% of app taxi users surveyed said that drivers continue to have ride cancellation issues, and 45% said they were charged more than 1.5 times surge pricing. Such practices undermine consumer confidence and the surge pricing cap has to be enforced by the platform, whether states implement the guidelines or not. If it requires an increase in the base fare, so be it.

In addition to these, personal extortion practices of certain drivers should be addressed by enabling consumers to easily report such incidents and then take immediate termination action against such drivers. These terms should also be made part of the driver’s contract with explicit undertakings. It is clear that there is driver stress in the system and the platforms need to overcome this.

The survey was conducted through the LocalCircles platform and all the participants were valid citizens who had to be registered with the localCircles to participate in this survey.

LocalCircle is working with the Bureau of Indian Standards, Government of India to create standards for app based taxi services in India under Sharing Economy Services.