Uber Technologies Inc. has made room for transparencies as it would just quote the ride fares upfront. The lightning bolt pop-ups that expect the rider to agree to the surge pricing would be done away with. The pricing would still fluctuate with demand however the price would be known earlier, no math no surprise.

uberPOOL exacted fares two years ago when it was launched and gradually it was noticed that the riders didn’t prefer uberPOOL because it was cheaper but because the prices were calculated before booking the ride. Although it’s quite possible the other way around too.

“Knowing how much a ride will cost in advance is clearly something riders appreciate: today uberPOOL accounts for over 20 percent of all rides globally,” a post in Uber’s newsroom says.

This feature had been in a testing phase in certain cities of the US and major cities of India since April and it was taken into account that passengers were more likely to book an Uber in the future if they are able to see the trip pricing upfront. The price would be calculated depending upon the number of riders pooling, the drivers available nearby, and the distance to be covered. There would be times that the rider would pay the atrocious amount in those truly horrid times of the day but all fair to scale.

The new rollout would also be accompanied by the feature wherein the rider could change the destination in the middle of the ride and the rider would get the change of price notification in the app. Even if the driver finds an alternate route due to other reasons to the same destination, the rider would pay the price he agreed upon earlier while signing up for the ride.

So one could now book rides and know the prices in advance just like in hotel and airline bookings. This feature would benefit the riders globally making it a more transparent ecosystem.

The post Uber is doing away with surge pricing to bring more transparency appeared first on TravHQ.

Soon after the Karnataka government announced ban on surge pricing, Uber started lobbying against the decision. However it appears that it hasn’t done any good to the US based cab hailing service or its local rival Ola and the government is striking on the operations of the two brands in Bengaluru.

According to a report by Livemint, Rama Gowde, Bengaluru based commissioner of transport and road safety has shared that more than 30 Uber and Ola vehicles have been impounded for allegedly overcharging customers and the operations continue to crack down on more.

Earlier Karnataka government issued instructions that the cab hailing companies would have to operate at the prices announced by the government. Some users also signed an online petition against the surge pricing used by Uber. The cab hailing companies however, are against the decision and keep highlighting the fact that surge pricing is simply bridging the gap between demand and supply. Some industry experts even went ahead saying that government shouldn’t intervene in something they don’t understand.

To strengthen this point, Uber published a detailed post on its blog explaining the concept of surge pricing and sent personalised mails to users highlighting the total amount they have paid recently in their Uber rides and how much they would have paid extra if calculated by the flat pricing that the government is trying to enforce.

The commissioner of transport has also announced that the travellers are encouraged to file police complaints if they subjected to surge pricing.

Source: Livemint

The post Government starts cracking down on Uber and Ola drivers in India due to surge pricing appeared first on TravHQ.