A woman, who was trying to book a cab today morning to reach the office on time, said that she was seeing a fare of Rs 415 for 6 km on apps. And, despite this, no auto or cab drivers accepted her ride request. She took to Reddit to rant about it, and others have joined her, expressing that it felt like a “rush hour madness” as early as 6:40 AM.
“Is Wednesday officially the day you avoid work from the office?” reads the title of the Reddit post shared two hours back by a woman who goes by “introvertcat09” online.
In her post, which is marked as “rant”, she highlighted cab issues in the Silicon Valley of India.
‘Rs 415 for 6 km?’
“I’ve been trying to book a cab for an hour, and not a single cab has accepted. The prices are shooting like crazy,” she wrote, before sharing a very high price for rental cabs for just 6 km in the city.
She claimed that she has been seeing a fare of Rs 415 for 6kms, adding, “Are you kidding me?” She, however, didn’t name the app.
The woman, who regularly travels to the office, said that this has never happened to her before, as she travels well within the time when surge prices are not added to the fares. “I know the brackets when to leave home to avoid all this drama, and I’m well within my bracket.”
Frustrated over the situation she was in, she expressed, “What’s next? Should I leave home at 7? And then gradually at 6?”
Asking if auto and cab drivers want a “pot of gold”, she claimed, “At this point, autos, non-AC and AC cabs are all charging the same and yet not accepting!”
She ended her post saying that she is yet to figure out what’s on the “other side” and that she takes around 20 minutes to cover a distance of six km.
‘Roads are crazy today’
Many, after reading the Reddit post, admitted to “roads being crazy” today morning. One resident said, “I stepped out at 6:40 AM and even then it felt like the rush hour madness. Some part of it is contributed by cows. So many of them. And they don’t budge, no point honking.”
“Reg surge pricing, apps check the number of hits for a new booking from a specific location based on geo-coords. The more you reattempt, it keeps climbing. One hack I’d found is, let it try booking and time out, then you attempt looking up again. It’ll show you a lower fare. It shows the lowest fare if a driver cancels after accepting and they aren’t able to automatically assign another one,” they added.
Another said, “Cows on Outer Ring Road was a new thing I saw today.”
“Personally, if the distance is less than 10 km. I would take my bike. No need to wait for any cabs or autos. Instead of waiting for close to an hour, which is very frustrating, I will just take my bike and reach the destination. I know rain might come anytime, but since you have the flexibility of when you can start, plan accordingly and leave. Period,” commented a third.
A fourth suggested, “Try the bus if you can. Sorry for your trouble.”