(Representative image)

Key Highlights Some app-based cab drivers are minting money by making passengers to book the same trip on multiple apps

App-based taxi companies offer cash incentives for drivers after completing certain number of rides every day



Drivers request passengers to book another trip after alighting for boosting their ride count



Chennai: It is a classical example of hitting two birds with one stone. Some app-based cab drivers in the city are minting money by making passengers to book the same trip on multiple apps like Ola and Uber simultaneously to earn incentives.

App-based taxi companies offer cash incentives for drivers after completing certain number of rides every day, say cabbies.

Desperate to take home the perks, drivers, who work for both Ola and Uber, make passengers book the same trip on another app as soon as they board the vehicle.

The modus operandi goes like this: The driver will accept a trip on Uber and tell the passenger to book the same trip on Ola. He collects payment from the passenger for the Uber trip at the end of the journey while he takes a cash incentive from the other company for completing the trip. The company will not detect anything amiss because the car would have travelled the same route. This helps drivers to meet the per day target of 15 rides fixed by online cab aggregators.

A commuter, who boarded a taxi that was booked through Uber on July 5, was surprised when the driver asked him to rebook the same destination on Ola. The likelihood of him getting assigned the trip was very high as his car was near the commuter. And the driver received the trip and the passenger, already in the Uber cab, got a confirmation message from Ola!

"This is done to meet the target set by cab aggregators. If the number of trips is achieved in a day, we become eligible for cash incentive of Rs 1,300, of which we get Rs 700 after deductions," the driver said.

Queried whether drivers can render their services for multiple aggregators, he said the contract does not prevent drivers from working with another company. The drivers take advantage of the fact that Uber cars are not labelled.

"We end the trip once reaching the destination and people will pay only fares reflecting on Uber device. At the same time, the trip would be counted for Ola, as well," he said.

Further, there are also pleas from drivers, after dropping passengers at their respective destinations. Drivers request passengers to book another trip after alighting for boosting their ride count. Cabbies end the trip after driving for a shorter distance.

Another Uber driver said he was aware about such practices indulged by a few drivers. TOI came across three instances of such requests made by drivers.

However, both Ola and Uber declined to comment.

