Why Uber is the choice for Chennai Auto Drivers

I cherish conversations on the go with Strangers, Co-Passengers. Today I happened to book an Uber Auto Service to my Home in Chennai.

This short article captures the summary of the conversation I had with one Auto-Anna (a random Auto Driver).

I was curious about one thing primarily "Is it worth enlisting themselves to these ride-hailing apps? Why not just be independent and keep their earnings all to themselves?"

So, I shot my shot. Anna smiled and started to brief me details and his choice of app for ride-bookings among the Triopoly (currently as far as Chennai is concerned, it is a market that is close to equally controlled by Rapido, Ola and Uber, with Uber being the most favourite among Auto Annas, Rapido is the monopoly for Bike Rider Bhaiyas).

His reasons to choose: (Pre Ess – he keeps logged in – in all three apps at the same time but among them, which app he prefers to take rides from is found below).

Spoiler Alert – it is Uber.

Fees and Commissions:

According to him, the scenario has slightly improved with no Annual Compulsory Fee or Retained Deposits requirements from any of them. Place an application into the application, submit documents, get done with Blah and Blah and Blah of KYC etc and you are all set to play GTA in the roads of Chennai. With Ola, he must pay a Flat Fee of Rs. 7.00 per ride, Uber Charges same Rs. 7.00 for every booking unless it is long ride in which case, it goes upto Rs. 13.00 a ride. But here comes the most benevolent service provider aka Rapido who charges him Flat Rs. 29.00 a day for all the bookings during the day.

The Verdict - he finds Rapido more convenient with average bookings count for a day (10.00 working hours day) reaches close to 18-20. With Rapido he pays the least in all odds.

However lower cost does not necessarily mean higher income.

Probability of bookings: Aka which pond is more fishy

Despite Rapido being the rider’s biased choice (Rapido charges the least per km to riders), he says he prefers Uber, because

?????????????? With Uber, he sees more bookings a day compared to the other two. According to him, maybe a charm or science to explain, Uber always gives them Rides and it is particularly important for Auto Annas who take one-way long drops, because they will most probably end up dropping outside their turfs and they must return unbooked. This means they must cover the to-and-fro cost of that ride or should not even take the ride. He says so far Uber tops in this by giving him good return rides too.

?????????????? No offence Bhavish Ji but even I always use Ola to scout the area for Autos and compare prices and then run away with an Uber or Rapido booking if my salary is due credit. You charge high and you charge higher if people do not mind. Something for you to introspect. But my and my peers’ choice is Rapido because they offer the cheapest and also give us an option to “negotiate (seduce the driver with few more rupees or dance moves)”. Yet when it comes to a handshake, mostly with Uber it happens.

The Verdict – Uber. But Ola if it is a long ride (co-incidentally mostly Chennai users use both apps simultaneously to search and go with the first booking in case of long rides, where Ola charges 50% lesser)

Other features:

As noted since this a Triopoly, he says each service provider offers similar services. The Driver and the passenger get insurance coverage to start with. Each service provider has similar KYC norms and regular checks etc. But one thing to note is that, with Rapido they don’t get Credit payment aka Fee Collector who will then transfer the net amount to Driver after deducting Fee and Commissions. With Uber and Ola this payment method is vanishing slowly with more passengers opting for Cash payment that is paid directly to the Driver.

?????????????? With Ola he has the option to hold the Fee and Commissions due up to a threshold and once reached he has to UPI it to them. With Uber it is SOD clearing from his side for the previous day earnings.

?????????????? The ride cancellation penalty that apps charge riders does not reach the drivers, a problem because they have ridden for some distance before being turned down.

?????????????? According to him while Ola offers him usually more Charge to collect, when it comes to late night journeys, Uber offers him 1.5times of day time fare. With Ola he is unclear.

?????????????? He pointed out one feature as well - ?Uber seems to have a good analytics Dashboard (yet they can do better IMO) that helps him catch good rides or at least frequent rides. He says it used to give him satisfactory data to take rides earlier, but now a days it is not as effective. He didn’t comment about Ola or Rapido on that. And I do not think they provide any such analytics.

The final Verdict according to him – he prefers Uber and at this point I can see that Rapido is passenger’s choice because of cheaper rate whereas Uber is Drivers’ pet because of their established platform (yet Rapido is the Monopoly in Bike Ride Hailing service).

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What if he chose to be independent:

I paid him Rs. 350 for a 25Km ride and he pocketed, after commission close to Rs. 330. He could save this ~Rs. 20 per ride or ~Rs. 350-400 a day or ~Rs. 1.2Lakhs per annum (kidding, he may not drive every day). But in his words “Before these apps came to market, we Auto Drivers had this limitation of ability or restriction to take rides only in the areas that are divided and allotted among ourselves based on which stand I register with. Each Stand is registered and its perimeter strictly drawn and our competition intensifies. However, after these apps came into play, we are now free to take rides on any area and no dispute usually arises. So, our bookings count has largely increased and it is up to an individual to be logged in as long as he wants and proportionately earn” Bro is pocketing a net profit on an average of Rs. 1000 on normal days and Rs. 2500-3000 on festival days, which was not the reality earlier to these apps’ introduction.

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Well, finally I asked him that why would the Auto Drivers not come together and build an app that is for the benefit of members and may offer virtually no commission and help them reap more profits. He says it will be a Thanos’ Snap for the Giants to destroy any such new venture and the Drivers are accustomed to these app-based working model and find not much disputes or malpractices. So, I can infer that even though they are not explicitly appreciated by Auto Drivers, these Raid Hailing Apps provide a wonderful business model that is Win and a Win and a Win for the Auto Drivers, passengers and themselves.

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Would love to write more on Cabs and Bike Transports, maybe in an another article.

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The Authenticity of details in the Article is not verifiable but hey it is not going to lead me to any lawsuits right? Right ???