Hyderabad pips Bengaluru on rides, drivers’ earnings: Uber

Bengaluru: Riders and drivers in Hyderabad are better off when compared to their counterparts in Bengaluru as Uber reaches riders in the city of Nizams 40 per cent faster as Bengaluru drivers earn 25 per cent low than Hyderabad Uber drivers, an in-house study done by the cab-hailing company revealed on Friday.

Hyderabad enjoys the highest ride completion rate (75 per cent) while Bengaluru has the lowest ride completion rate at 45 per cent when compared to other metros such as Delhi NCR (71 per cent) and Mumbai (65 per cent).

An analysis of all rides taken on the Uber platform in a city found that riders booking an app in Hyderabad have an average waiting time of 5 minutes.

In comparison, the waiting time for a cab booked by a rider in Bengaluru is 40 per cent higher (average 7 minutes).

According to a previous report by Uber, 4 in every 10 cab rides are cancelled in Bengaluru. This, in turn, impacts drivers’ earnings in the city.

When compared to their counterparts in Hyderabad, Bengaluru drivers’ earnings are up to 20-25 per cent lower.

“The primary factors attributed by drivers to these lower earnings include regulatory caps and cancellations which does not compensate them for their time spent,” revealed the data.

In January 2018, Karnataka had fixed a maximum and minimum fare for cab aggregators like Uber and Ola, with slabs based on the vehicle cost.

This was the result of continued protests against the ‘surge pricing’ or ‘dynamic pricing’ mechanism that results in relatively higher fares during peak hours.

“Dynamic Pricing is algorithm-driven, based on real-time market conditions – rider demand and the supply of cars. When imbalances in demand and supply in a particular area at a particular time are detected, it works towards rebalancing the marketplace in real-time,” said an Uber spokesperson.