BENGALURU: The long Dussehra weekend last month spelled major woes for users of app-based cab services in the city, and it is likely to repeat this Diwali holidays too. While one of the major cab hailing app had charged excessive fares claiming “higher demands”, other didn’t have enough drivers plying.
Savithri Radhakrishnan, a software professional says, she couldn’t find cabs on any of the taxi apps during the last festive weekend . “I had to catch a movie on Bannergatta Road at 7pm. I was trying from 5pm, but found no cabs,” says the Lingarajapuram resident, who ended up missing the show. Ragini (name changed), faced a similar problem on Friday and Saturday evenings, during Dussehra. “There were hardly any cabs plying. That weekend was tough on commuters. The only app that has a few cabs plying has been overcharging,” she says.
For Shane Roy (name changed) finding a commute was beyond frustrating during that weekend. He tried to book a cab from CMH Main Road on Indiranagar, but the drivers kept cancelling on him. “Every time the cab was 30 minutes away, they would just cancel. After two cabs, I just gave up,” he says.
Archita Barot, who is visiting the city from New York, too was disappointed with the apps her friend had asked her to use to hail taxi in Bengaluru on the Dussehra weekend.
“None worked,” says the 27-year-old.
The dearth in cabs was mostly because drivers had gone to their villages for the festival, says Ramu (name changed), a cab driver in the city. “You’ll hardly find any taxis in the city when such long weekends fall on festival days. It will be the same during Diwali,” he adds. Another cab driver informs that of the few taxis that were plying during the Dussehra weekend, most were parked near, causing further dearth. “Airport rides are good money, so most of us parked there to earn more,” he says.
Making the most of this lack of cabs were the autorickshaw drivers in the city during Dussehra. “Most autos are charging double,” says Ramu. Shane confirms this. After not finding any cabs, he took an auto from Indirangar to Frazer Town at double the metre rate, he informs.Taxi aggregator Uber suggests carpooling. “During the festive season, there is a spike in number of people hailing ride,” says an Uber spokesperson, adding that carpooling will be encouraged among users during the coming
Diwali weekend. City Express reached out to Ola, but there was no official response from the company.