Ola, Uber increase fare in Bengaluru, rides cost shoot up to 2X

Cab-hailing platforms Ola and Uber are once again facing flak from users for higher pricing. The regular cab riders in Bengaluru are complaining to pay higher prices to the cab companies what they used to pay earlier.

The riders claim that the prices charged by both the companies have risen by more than 30 per cent in the past two months. Importantly, the price rise has been observed in regular pricing without surge charge.

There are certain cases where citizens noticed that their daily rides have become costlier by 50 per cent to 100 per cent in the past one month, said a Times of India report.

This is not the first time when cab aggregators have been accused of charging higher prices. Ola and Uber have been under a government radar for surge pricing in Bengaluru.

A few months ago, the state was reportedly looking at capping the surge fare by cab aggregators. The state transport department had then written to ANI Technologies Private Ltd and Uber India seeking a copy of their policy regarding fixing of surge prices.

In defense, the cab aggregators claimed that the surge pricing is calculated by an algorithm when there is a mismatch between demand and supply.

A senior transport department officer, however, countered the claim and said that surge pricing is not always transparent and difficult to explain.

Earlier, the central government also felt there were serious competition issues on pricing by these cab aggregators as India’s two major cab operators might be abusing their dominant position.