RUSH HOUR

AS UBER AND OLA GRAPPLE WITH A DRIVER SHORTAGE IN THE AFTERMATH OF COVID-19 AND SHIFT TO A PROFIT-FIRST APPROACH, NIMBLE NEWCOMERS HAVE ZOOMED IN TO CAPITALISE ON THEIR INEFFICIENCIES, RESHAPING URBAN TRANSPORT IN THE PROCESS

- BINU PAUL

“HELLO MADAM, WHAT is your drop location?” “Koramangala.” Ride cancelled. “Hello madam, cash or online payment?” “Online.” Ride cancelled.

“This is my struggle every day now; spending over an hour having these awkward conversations with at least half-a-dozen drivers before I finally get a cab for my commute,” shares Bengaluru-based IT professional Reshma. If you are a regular user of cab-hailing apps, you are perhaps all too familiar with this.

But things weren’t always like this, at least not before Covid-19. In that idyllic past, the value proposition that Ola and Uber offered driver-partners and customers was clear: seller would meet buyer in a mediated market that promised a fair deal for both. What ensued was a fierce competition between the two giants for every ride and driver, as they outbid each other with discounts and incentives, in a quest to capture the Indian market.

By the middle of 2020, though, months of lockdowns, enforced isolation and deserted streets had delivered the online mobility sector a body blow. In the depths of the pandemic, demand for Ola and Uber’s services plummeted to zero. 

TROUBLE BREWS 

1 The Covid-19-induced slowdown prompted an exodus of drivers, exacerbating supply shortages for Ola and Uber

2 As service quality declined and ride costs rose, more users turned to autorickshaws and bike taxis

3 Ola and Uber, meanwhile, have shifted focus to profitability in the cab-hailing business