Have you found yourself impatiently waiting to get an Uber cab in Bengaluru? Your frustration may not be unfounded; an internal survey by the cab aggregator service has found that Bengalureans on average wait the longest for their cab to arrive compared to three other Indian metro cities – Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, and Mumbai.
The average ETA (estimated time of arrival) for an Uber cab in Bengaluru is seven minutes. Commuters in Delhi NCR hand have the lowest average ETA of four minutes, while Mumbai and Hyderabad have the mean ETA of five minutes each.
Due to the longer waiting time, riders also tend to cancel trips, leading to a lower completion rate for trips in Bengaluru at 45%. Comparatively, Delhi NCR has a completion rate of 71%, Hyderabad 75% and Mumbai 65%. This data is derived from the percentage of trips that are completed, based on requests made.
Uber has concluded that the higher ETA and subsequently lower completion rate are a result of Uber’s dynamic pricing mechanism (that adjusts fares according to the demand for cabs) not being able to work at its best due to fare cap limitations in place in the city. The traffic congestion also has a role to play in the higher ETA, Uber said.
An official with a cab aggregator had told TNM last year that because of the Bengaluru government’s decision to cap maximum fare to Rs 24 per kilometre for cars worth Rs 5-10 lakh, the drivers no longer have an incentive to sit through traffic during peak hours, leading to lower number of taxis during that time. The official had said then that the average wait time for a cab was 17 minutes.
“Compared to drivers in Hyderabad or Chennai, Bengaluru drivers are making 25% less than, despite being on the road for 10 hours,” the official had also told TNM.
This is reflected in Uber’s recent data also. “Taking Hyderabad as a relative, drivers in Mumbai earn 8% lower and in Bangalore earn almost 25-30% lower,” Uber said.