Why are customers complaining about ride-hailing apps?

Customers speak up: A passenger from Bengaluru caught social media attention after sharing a Rs 2,000 fare shown on the Uber app for a 30 km ride.

As ride-hailing apps enable customers to make last-minute bookings on the app at wee hours as well, many users pre-book or turn to the apps minutes before undertaking trips to destinations like offices and airports.

The user shared a screenshot of his ride in Uber on February 28 on microblogging site X, showing a fare ranging from Rs 1,800 to Rs 2,400 from his place in Hosur-Sarjapur Road Layout (HSR) till the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru.

He ended up taking a Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus, which costed him only Rs 265.

“Only challenge is getting another Uber for the last mile connectivity,” he commented on a user post.

But this has not been an isolated case for Uber. Other ride-hailing apps like Rapido, BluSmart and Ola’s X feeds show similar complaints by users.

A Rapido customer tweeted how their trip fare has increased more than 50 per cent than at the time of booking to the end of the trip, but this led to a dangerous situation.

“I took a screenshot at the time of starting, rider threatened me to beat by calling his people, I contacted customer support but they were saying issue resolved,” the user tweeted on February 27.

An Ola customer on February 28 shared how he booked a cab the evening before with a fare of Rs 374.

“The driver called asking where to go and then canceled it, app booked a different cab without any notification but when the ride ended the fare bumped up to Rs 514,” the customer shared.

EV ride-hailing app BluSmart, which allows for pre-booking of rides, introduced surge pricing for peak office hours.

A user on February 26 took to X to complain that she used to be a loyal customer of the app, but the way pricing is being increased on the app is “insane”.
“Just now encountered Rs 200 difference in fare from other competitors. Need attention,” she tweeted, tagging the company handle and founder Anmol Singh Jaggi.

The companies are yet to respond to Republic Business' queries.