BENGALURU: The freebies have stopped, the gravy train has ground to a halt, and it looks like we have been unceremoniously thrown out. Online food ordering, hailing cabs and autos, and doorstep delivery are no longer so easy-peasy – there’s service tax, delivery fee, surge fee and sundry cesses bulking up your bill. Yet, you and I pay it without a whimper, slaves of bad habits cultivated over the past few years.
Oh yes, it hurts. I paid `97 for a 2-km ride – unthinkable just a few months ago. In fact, for a very long time, the fare was `27 for 2km. That was when ride-hailing was a delightful new activity – the auto would pick me up right outside my gate and drop me where I pleased. No waiting for an obliging driver, no nasty comments, no spats over faulty meters which seemed to have a life of their own. I wanted nothing to do with autos which were off the aggregator grid.
That phase is long gone. Cab drivers now cancel rides at will, especially the ones who are to arrive at dawn to rush you to the airport. Panic follows. There is a surge charge, no matter whether it’s sunny, rainy, morning, noon or night. Most times, you are left gazing at a rotating circle at your screen, hoping for redemption. So we are back where we started: dealing with recalcitrant drivers and being fleeced by an invisible operator.
Ditto with food delivery. Scratch cards, discounts and sweet deals belong to the past. Sample this: `65 for a plate of idli, `130 for a dosa, `250 for a smoothie... On an ordinary day, you pay 140 per cent for a dish, with taxes and fees layered in. Of this, the restaurateur gets his usual rate, the delivery agent gets a measly salary, while it’s the aggregator with a wide platform who is calling the shots and raking it in. The middleman economy is back, and it’s burning holes in our pockets
It was the pandemic which played a big role in turning these fledgling startups into smug fat cats. Hark back to those long, silent lockdown days when walking the streets was a crime, and the food/ home delivery agent became the life saviour. Slowly, the habit grew and ensnared us all. From the harried homemaker to the choosy teenager to the work-from-home veteran, willy-nilly, we are collectively being taken on an a rather expensive ride.
It’s not too late, we can still extricate ourselves from this web; we can walk out and find our own transport. We can fetch our own food, or better still, dine in and cut down on plastic packaging. The new economic model may be convenient and allow you to continue your social media meditation, but it’s damaging in more ways than one. Think about it.