blackwasp Senior - BHPian



Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Navi Mumbai Posts: 2,667 Thanked: 21,144 Times

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Ola or Uber





Back then, Ola used to give a device locked to their app and Google Maps for navigation. It was some cheap Android phone that was pretty buggy. But more on that later.



Unlike a rider (passenger/customer), the operators get incentive schemes, which vary from region to region. These are basically a carrot to run the car during certain times of the day (peak hours) or during holidays, etc. On a weekly basis, this incentive amount used to lie anywhere between 35-50% of the gross income. Now, most of you will say that this is neat, but I saw a problem. This meant that the car had to run with the incentive conditions in mind all the time. This creates a problem - many drivers prefer to take an off during a festival as they have functions back home as well. As an employer, I have to make sure that the staff remains happy. Generally, I used to give one day a week off. Ola accounts were also a bit sketchy - there used to be deductions due to 'complaints', but I observed that the driver rating was very high (4.7-4.9 out of 5). I let this pass for a week and started monitoring from the following week. Further, Ola used to promise something and at the time of paying up, backed out of it. I ran the car with Ola for just a month or so, till my RC book came from the RTO. I haven't gone back to Ola since then. Also, remember the device they give you to run the driver app? Well, that was a bad phone and required frequent replacement, leading to loss of time during business hours. By the time I decided to stop using the Ola platform, they had started allowing any Android phone to be used to run the app. Funnily, when I went to return their phone, I was told there was no provision in their systems to accept this phone. It is still lying in my house somewhere.



Once I got the RC book, I registered on the Uber platform and there was no looking back since. The biggest advantage of Uber is their customer service team. Unlike Ola, which has a telephone operator as default, 99% of the complaints with Uber could be solved via the app itself or an email. These included incorrect fare calculations, customer not giving correct payment, app problems, etc. Very rarely did I have to call the customer care number (yes, they have a small call centre for driver issues).



With Uber, the incentives are in the tune of 20-30% of the income, which means that even if for some reason the target is not met, the income hit would be smaller. In terms of absolute income, Uber is slightly behind Ola, but it is a much, much better partner to do business with. Typically, the company takes a cut of around 20% off every fare. This seems like a big cut, but even so, you run profitably (refer images in the next post for per km earnings). Incentive schemes will compensate for this cut. Also, a big boost to the operators is the surge pricing. Yes, thats right. All the surge amount is added to the bill and is actually paid to the driver. So, at the end of the day, its even more profitable to run the car. Surge pricing is generally applicable during typical office going hours of 7.30-9.00 am and 5.30-8.00 pm. Surges are also affected by local factors like a cricket match, strikes, higher demand due to some fair, rallies and sometimes just due to extra traffic. Drivers can see the surge on the app and take a call if they want to move to that region on not. However, from experience, you tend to understand the areas of peak business and try to go there to get the best chances of getting a longer fare.



Here is a weekly statement with the surge amount mentioned:





The incentive schemes in Uber vary a lot based on the driver rating, city, the car used, etc. My drivers have received incentives based on the total business done (e.g. do a business of Rs. 2500 and get Rs. 3500) and on the number of trips completed (do xx trips and get Rs. yy extra). Since the last year or so, the incentive schemes have more or less remained on the trip basis. It is split into two per week. From Monday to Thursday, 35-42 trips must be completed while Friday to Sunday, its around 30-35. Generally, for doing 75 trips a week, you get around Rs. 4000-5000 as an extra incentive (over and above the fare amount). I used to initially pay my drivers on a monthly basis but later switched to per trip basis. My reasoning was simple - you drive more, you earn more. This has worked out nicely so far. If you consider that a driver does around 300 trips a month, he can take home a cool Rs. 30,000. This is the reason for the popularity of Ola / Uber.



Uber also conducts training sessions at their office in Phoenix Market City whenever new changes are incorporated into the app - like pool trips, Mumbai - Pune trips and so on. Generally, it is a good practice to attend these. They last anywhere between 15 to 45 minutes and offer a chance to interact with Uber staff and get any doubts cleared.



The device that a driver uses also matters a lot. Cheaper Android phones tend to heat up and hang, leaving the driver without navigation or, at worst, making the passenger wait for the fare till the phone reboots. Considering all these, and the one phone lost by the driver, I now give an iPhone 5S to the drivers. There are some major reasons for this. I can lock the phone to only use the Uber app and the maps. With a passcode and Apple ID in place, if someone tries to steal it, it is as good as a paperweight. It rarely hangs or heats up, and most importantly, you can set the language to Hindi so that those unfamiliar with English can use the app. This feature has increased the productivity of some of my drivers. These features could also be used on any Android phone, but frankly, I am more familiar with the iOS system. Back then, Ola used to give a device locked to their app and Google Maps for navigation. It was some cheap Android phone that was pretty buggy. But more on that later.Unlike a rider (passenger/customer), the operators get incentive schemes, which vary from region to region. These are basically a carrot to run the car during certain times of the day (peak hours) or during holidays, etc. On a weekly basis, this incentive amount used to lie anywhere between 35-50% of the gross income. Now, most of you will say that this is neat, but I saw a problem. This meant that the carrun with the incentive conditions in mind all the time. This creates a problem - many drivers prefer to take an off during a festival as they have functions back home as well. As an employer, I have to make sure that the staff remains happy. Generally, I used to give one day a week off. Ola accounts were also a bit sketchy - there used to be deductions due to 'complaints', but I observed that the driver rating was very high (4.7-4.9 out of 5). I let this pass for a week and started monitoring from the following week. Further, Ola used to promise something and at the time of paying up, backed out of it. I ran the car with Ola for just a month or so, till my RC book came from the RTO. I haven't gone back to Ola since then. Also, remember the device they give you to run the driver app? Well, that was a bad phone and required frequent replacement, leading to loss of time during business hours. By the time I decided to stop using the Ola platform, they had started allowing any Android phone to be used to run the app. Funnily, when I went to return their phone, I was told there was no provision in their systems to accept this phone. It is still lying in my house somewhere.Once I got the RC book, I registered on the Uber platform and there was no looking back since. The biggest advantage of Uber is their customer service team. Unlike Ola, which has a telephone operator as default, 99% of the complaints with Uber could be solved via the app itself or an email. These included incorrect fare calculations, customer not giving correct payment, app problems, etc. Very rarely did I have to call the customer care number (yes, they have a small call centre for driver issues).With Uber, the incentives are in the tune of 20-30% of the income, which means that even if for some reason the target is not met, the income hit would be smaller. In terms of absolute income, Uber is slightly behind Ola, but it is a much, much better partner to do business with. Typically, the company takes a cut of around 20% off every fare. This seems like a big cut, but even so, you run profitably (refer images in the next post for per km earnings). Incentive schemes will compensate for this cut. Also, a big boost to the operators is the surge pricing. Yes, thats right. All theis added to the bill and is actually paid to the driver. So, at the end of the day, its even more profitable to run the car. Surge pricing is generally applicable during typical office going hours of 7.30-9.00 am and 5.30-8.00 pm. Surges are also affected by local factors like a cricket match, strikes, higher demand due to some fair, rallies and sometimes just due to extra traffic. Drivers can see the surge on the app and take a call if they want to move to that region on not. However, from experience, you tend to understand the areas of peak business and try to go there to get the best chances of getting a longer fare.Here is a weekly statement with the surge amount mentioned:The incentive schemes in Uber vary a lot based on the driver rating, city, the car used, etc. My drivers have received incentives based on the total business done (e.g. do a business of Rs. 2500 and get Rs. 3500) and on the number of trips completed (do xx trips and get Rs. yy extra). Since the last year or so, the incentive schemes have more or less remained on the trip basis. It is split into two per week. From Monday to Thursday, 35-42 trips must be completed while Friday to Sunday, its around 30-35. Generally, for doing 75 trips a week, you get around Rs. 4000-5000 as an extra incentive (over and above the fare amount). I used to initially pay my drivers on a monthly basis but later switched to per trip basis. My reasoning was simple - you drive more, you earn more. This has worked out nicely so far. If you consider that a driver does around 300 trips a month, he can take home a cool Rs. 30,000. This is the reason for the popularity of Ola / Uber.Uber also conducts training sessions at their office in Phoenix Market City whenever new changes are incorporated into the app - like pool trips, Mumbai - Pune trips and so on. Generally, it is a good practice to attend these. They last anywhere between 15 to 45 minutes and offer a chance to interact with Uber staff and get any doubts cleared.The device that a driver uses also matters a lot. Cheaper Android phones tend to heat up and hang, leaving the driver without navigation or, at worst, making the passenger wait for the fare till the phone reboots. Considering all these, and the one phone lost by the driver, I now give an iPhone 5S to the drivers. There are some major reasons for this. I can lock the phone to only use the Uber app and the maps. With a passcode and Apple ID in place, if someone tries to steal it, it is as good as a paperweight. It rarely hangs or heats up, and most importantly, you can set the language to Hindi so that those unfamiliar with English can use the app. This feature has increased the productivity of some of my drivers. These features could also be used on any Android phone, but frankly, I am more familiar with the iOS system. Last edited by Aditya : 23rd June 2018 at 12:27 .