Since last few years there are many ride sharing services started in Delhi/NCR. They offer cheap shared rides for travelling to nearby locations. Like many others I am using this service since 4 months. It is an affordable service which we can use for daily office commute, without burning hole in pocket.
But as we share rides with 2-3 other people, we need to understand the value of their time also. It is fine that the companies claim that you can use pickup from home, but it is our responsibilty to use it so that others are not affected by this.
I have faced some issues in the past months and I would like to share them for everyone. If you are reading this and understand the issues then please tell others also. If not, then please let me know your opinion and I will be better informed about it.
Pick up & Drop location
This is most common problem. Many people I have found just set the default detected location as pick up/drop location. This should be avoided. It would be better if you can chose nearest public road for pickup/drop. You can just move the map using your finger, so that the pin is at the desired location. For daily travelling you can also set the location as favorite, and then you can just sleect the location from options, when booking a new ride.
This may require you to walk a little, but this will help reduce the time it takes to go inside congested lanes and coming back as many residential societies now a days are gated. As the location of cab is updated in real time, you can adjust the time to leave from home when the cab is near.
This will also help prepare the better route for others. And you may also save few rupees on every ride. The distance and time needed by the cab to reach your location is added to your bill, if you choose a more accessible point then the bill will be reduced. I have tried this many times, and I save 4-5 rupees on every ride. Which comes out to be around 200 rupees a month, for 5 days work week.
Do not let us wait
As the location is already updated in real time, you can easily check the time it will take the cab to reach your pickup point, so try your best to reach there in 1 minute advance. So that others do not have to wait, for you.
Sometimes it happens that when making the booking you assume that it will take 10-15 minutes to reach, but actually the required time is less. If this is the case, you can immediately cancel the ride. You would not be charged any fee for this and you can again book a ride for you.
Use Digital Wallets
It will actually benefit you. I have seen many people paying extra, as most of the time, when paid in cash, the driver does not have required change amount to return the balance. Ola uses Ola money, Uber can be linked with Paytm. Creating an account on ola money or paytm does not cost anything. And you can keep there just enough money to pay for your ride.
This will enable you to just hop out of the cab, at your destination. No need to worry about cash and balance amount.
Use Phone Wisely
I have seen many people talking loudly on the phone even when on the sharing ride. You must care about privacy of others, if not yours. I do not want to hear about your affair, office problems or family problems. You can have enough time after the end of your ride to discuss to your heart. Just do not let me know about it, I am already having enough problems from my day at work.
Do not suggest routes
This is also an issue, although very small, I have seen many people forcing the driver to take their preferred route. Whereas the driver should follow the route displayed on the GPS navigation. Sometimes it happens that the displayed route is closed or having diversions. If this is the case then you are most welcome to inform the driver in advance, otherwise just let him/her follow the route displayed on the navigation device. That route is the best possible route calculated based on multiple parameters.
I myself have tried this many time for my personal driving and almost every time, the route displayed on the navigation was the best. Many times, when I used my route, I had to return from halfway to use the route suggested by Google.
So I would request everyone to think about others also. It is true that you have paid for this, but same is the case for others.
In one incidence I found a lady travelling all the way keeping her window open. We book the ride as AC ride, if someone has a problem with AC then they can use Auto or bike ride. I can understand that you may not feel comfortable in AC, but there are others also who prefer AC and that is what they are paying for.
By the way I travel by Ola, as Uber is too costly.
