Bengaluru Commuters Protest Surge Fares By Ride-Hailing Service

Two popular cab service providers recently faced backlash by Bengaluru commuters over their exorbitant fares. Up to 292 cases were registered at the Karnataka Transport Department, against these ride-hailing apps and their rising prices after the transport department carried out an intensive drive at various places within the city such as Majestic, Jayanagar bus stand, Hennur, Devanahalli, Kempegowda International Airport, and others, to shell out drivers and aggregators charging inflated prices to their passengers. Joint Commissioner, KT Halaswamy also said that drivers will be charged a penalty of Rs. 500 for the first offence of charging excess fare - making drivers bear the brunt of their aggregator's steep pricing model - a decision that did not sit well with the city's avid cab users, and they took to social media to criticize the unfair policy. Cab drivers on the other hand have openly spoken of the challenges they face in their profession with regards to high fuel costs, extremely hefty commission, and congested roads and traffic, to name a few - whilst being forced to pay penalty for a surge model their aggregators are responsible for - making drivers the collateral damage in this war of surge.

Citizens of Bengaluru have raised their voices, taking social media to express their dissent over the excess fare, for example, netizens claim that a 15-minute, 2-kilometer short ride which regularly costs Rs. 45 on the meter, has spiked up to Rs 105 on these aggregator apps. With outrage on the lines of "cheating" and "looting", Bengaluru commuters are up in arms on not just social media platforms but have also sent complaints via email to the Chief Minister, Basavaraj Bommai, and other top government functionalities stating the exploitative nature of cab surges perpetuated by the ruling aggregators in the cab ecosystem. The Chief Executive Officer of The Ken also chimed in on Twitter saying that "A 1 hour Uber to Bengaluru airport costs 60-130% the price of a 1.5-hour flight to Mumbai" - highlighting just how absurdly inflated prices were on these commonly used cab apps - giving surge prices an all-new meaning in a city that's always on the move. Another netizen took to Twitter to rant about how running autos demand the pricing based on these cab apps, which is double the amount that shows on the meter for the same distance.

In Bengaluru, while these cab service providers face the consequences of their unfair surge model, there is another ride-hailing app, MYn, that stands against everything these other cab apps thrive on - such as commissions and surge. It is currently fully-functional in Bengaluru with its disruptive cab model and 50,000 cabs and autos strong - charging no commission from drivers and no surge pricing from users - making it the nation's most unique model where users pay less, and drivers earn more. Strictly following Government-approved rates per kilometre, MYn is revolutionising the cab cosmos making ride-hailing services less of a hassle and more of a convenient, feasible mode of movement.

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