Today, I received an email each from Uber and Kabbee (we used both services on a recent trip to London). The email from Uber announced a “black-cab Uber” service – essentially they have capitalized on the famous London Black Cab brand and used it for their company – this is a huge six for Uber. The email from Kabbee asked me to book their cab service in advance today.
Coincidence? Hardly! Today, i.e. 11 June 2014, thousands of cab drivers protested in London, Paris, Berlin, Milan, Madrid and Lisbon against what they term as tyranny of Uber. In London, they choked traffic at Trafalgar Square, honking their horns and chanting “Boris, Boris” (against London Mayor Boris Johnson) Their main argument is that passengers who use services like Uber are at risk since the drivers of these cars are not licenced. Really? All those like to be over-charged, be shouted at not leaving a tip or be refused a ride especially at night please raise their hands. Hmmm. I thought so. This was further validated by a news report saying that Uber reported an 850% increase in registrations – it is simply a case of people voting for better service while paying less.
In my earlier post, I wrote on how services / apps like Uber are disrupting the cab / taxi industry – if it can be called that. Any leveraging of technology for provision of service while cutting down on overheads is bound to create upheavals. Uber has done this beautifully while exploiting the mobile phones in the hands of billions of people. So, while it leads to many of these taxi drivers losing their livelihood, many hard working drivers will get employment and they will get paid better than if they ferried people in cabs. Therefore, the message is clear – the cabbies have to fall in line and adhere to the rates (low) fixed by the company and work as per availability of passengers while being rated by the passengers. The Uber app puts us, the paying customer at the centre of business, which is the cabbies’ main grouse.
One of the significant expenses while travelling abroad is cabs / airport transfers, especially important if you are travelling as a group or family. In London, when I enquired from a black cab about charges for airport transfer, they quoted 85 Pounds, while we got to the hotel in a better car (VW Passat) for 45 Pounds! Then we used it for other local excursions and the fare was not only cheaper than the black taxis, it cost us the same as it would have on the London Underground (not if you take a day pass, though). Ask anyone who has travelled to other European cities like Paris, Milan and Rome – it is the same story of being asked to pay more. In Rome, we were taken for a long ride for which I had to pay double the usual charge. One doesn’t expect such things to happen in popular tourist destinations.
As Uber and companies like it expand their presence across the globe, we will benefit from it and will perhaps lead to similar services being disrupted to our advantage – can we something for the autorickshaws in India please?
