Hyderabad: Drivers of taxi aggregators put passengers on the spot

Hyderabad: The cancellation of rides by the Ola and Uber drivers over the mode of payment is ruffling the feathers of passengers. They further complained that the drivers were insisting only cash payments and refusing other modes of payment and forcing them to cancel the rides.

"This is strange. A driver asked the mode of payment and when said about the other mode of payment rather than cash, he asked me to cancel the trip," said Ritu Dave, who has faced the cancellations recently.

However, the drivers are not allowed to ask passengers about the payment mode and drop the passenger at their destination. The moment the ride is booked, the driver calls for the destination and then asks the payment mode and cancels the trip, if one says no cash.

Mohammed Nayeem, another commuter who faced the similar issue said, " The aggregators claim that the passenger can pay the ride fare by any mode including cash, internet banking, debit/credit cards, app-based payment etc. But after the ride is booked, a majority of drivers ask for the cash payment or ask us to cancel the trip. All the claims of the companies are false, and the customers are the ones who are facing inconvenience and are also being charged for the trip cancellations," he added.

"I have been using the app-based payment mode as several times the customer gets the offers on rides, food and shopping coupons etc., but this was going unused as the drivers are not accepting the other payment modes other than cash," pointed Rajkumar, who usually uses the app-based payments.

Likewise, there are several such complaints raised by the passengers and were also posted on social media. However, the aggregators remain silent on the issue.

Meanwhile, the Drivers union said that there were several such reasons for the cancellation of trips. Several reasons for cancellation include the rate of diesel prices shooting up, low rate per kilometre and EMIs of vehicles. "When the customer books a ride, the driver needs to fill the fuel for the ride. But when the passenger pays the trip fare amount online/app-based or with cards, it directly goes to the company and the driver faces difficulties filling fuel," said Shaik Salauddin, chairman, Telangana State Taxi and Drivers Joint Action Committee.

"When the passenger pays the trip amount through the card of the company app it directly goes to the company and after a week, the settlement will be done. The drivers narrated several stories where they start the day with Rs 500 for fuel and daily expenses and at the end of the day, they are left with not enough money to even buy vegetables to take home. Under such certain situations, the passenger believes that the driver is irresponsible and frivolous," he added.