I have been using Uber for past couple of years on a regular basis. Its service has been mostly satisfying, though at times downright frustrating. However, for the price, Uber’s taxi service has been worth it or rather, a real value for money.
However, Uber revised prices of its service in New Delhi and that too rather sharply for those, who use it for long distance.
Uber Go, its basic service, used most widely is priced at Rs. 6/km, with an additional charge of Rs. 1 per minute. While it is supposed to be cheaper than autorickshaws in Delhi, which have a fare of Rs. 8/km. In reality, an auto is actually cheaper since base fare of Uber Go is Rs. 40, while in the case of an auto, base fare is Rs. 25 and there is no per minute charge.
With the updated pricing, those using Uber Go for more than 20kms will have to pay twice the normal fare (Rs. 12/km), beyond 20kms i.e. if you were traveling for a distance of 40kms in Uber Go, you will end up paying Rs. 120 extra for the ride. Earlier a ride like this used to cost around Rs. 300 (without any toll or MCD tax), provided there was no traffic jam. Now, it would be Rs. 420 + MCD + toll tax.
That is a fairly steep hike for regular commuters of Uber, and since Uber Pool doesn’t work after 10pm, those traveling at night will have no option except to shell out this extra money or switch to other taxi or auto services.
Even though everyone had sort of known Uber would revise its pricing, once it captures enough market share and begins to focus on generating revenue, such a steep I hike I guess wasn’t really expected.
On top of it, Uber invoices aren’t detailed and one never really knows the breakdown of fare, like the earlier invoice used to show. Having said that, at least for short distances, Uber Go along with Uber Pool is still the cheapest taxi service in Delhi/NCR. Though for long distance, OLA is going to be a cheaper alternative, unless they too update their fares.
2 Comments
Actually it is still much cheaper than any other cab service you try. The fares in Delhi are again much cheaper than what they hiked for bangalore folks. Here it is 7/km for first 15 kms and then 14/km thereafter.
With all my trips to bangalore airport this change in fare costs me a mere 100rs more than it used to earlier.
I would still prefer to uber rather than an auto as that reduces the hassles of trying to find an auto wallah who would first of all agree to go by meter and secondly would be willing to go a distance of 40kms. There is also that issue that if you want to travel to gurgaon/noida from delhi you need to find an auto who has the full NCR permit.
Of course price rise from any service provider is not taken easily and yes it is gonna cost us more but as you said it had to come & I think it is still much better than haggling with an auto in Delhi.
It used to be cheaper than OLA, however, for long distance, OLA should turn out to be cheaper. They haven’t yet raised their fare in Delhi. If they play it smart, they will get more users.