Mumbai: As the state government is in the process of framing rules to regulate the cab aggregator services, the Mumbai Grahak Panchayat (MGP) conducted an online survey to put the problems faced by passengers in a statistical perspective. The city's prominent consumer welfare organisation, the MGP held the survey from May 6 to May 8, with a sample size of 1,629 participants. The pan-India exercise received nearly 80% of the responses from Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
Cancellation without intimation
The most common problems discovered in the survey were booking cancellation without intimation, drivers asking about destination before pickup, unreasonable trip cancellation and consumers ending up paying cancellation charges, and exorbitant surge pricing.
As per the findings, prompt availability, cheaper rates and reliability were the prominent reasons behind people opting for ride-hailing services. However, trip cancellation surfaced as the biggest issue. Around 67.3% respondents lamented booking cancellation without intimation, while 60.5% highlighted the issue of drivers querying about destinations before pickup. The percentage of respondents affirming slow response (from driver's end) and late confirmation of booking stood at 40.6% and 38.3%, respectively.
Whereas, 73.4% participants said that trips got cancelled after booking, while on the cancellation charges were passed on to the passengers in 50% cases. Around 22.8% respondents said that drivers neither helped with luggage nor assisted elderly passengers, while 15.8 % said that drivers took long detours.
Consumers not in favour of surging cab prices
Around 81% felt that surge pricing was not justified and 76.6% respondents demanded that 10% over normal fare should be fixed as extra charges for booking cabs when they are in demand. Drivers insisting on cash payment was the biggest post-ride issue faced by 50% participants, while 18.7% said that drivers didn't return change. Around 76.1% respondents said that they were not aware that the aggregators provided the facility to review fares and fees.
The survey was conducted with a view to make suggestions to the government on its forthcoming regulatory policy for cab aggregators.
