Wednesday 25 May 2016

Uber to cap surge prices in Delhi as per Govt regulations

Cab aggregator Uber has informed the Delhi government that it is ready to cap its fares at rates fixed by the government, reports Mint. Currently, taxi services cost Rs 12.50 for economy taxis, Rs 14 & Rs 16 per km for non-AC and AC black and yellow top taxis, and Rs 23 per km for radio taxi cabs with an LCD board on the rooftop displaying “Radio Taxi”, as per government standards


Note that last month Ola and Uber had suspended surge pricing in Delhi following a government warning that it would take strict action, including impound cabs and cancellation of permits, against those who would flout government rules. Seperately, the Karnataka government has already impounded some Ola and Uber vehicles for charging their users over the government decided rate of Rs 19.5/km, after banning surge pricing in the state. The Maharashtra government had also released a draft policy last year, capping surge pricing and the number of cars on each platform in Mumbai.

Thursday 28 April 2016

Ixigo Now Lets Users Book a Cab Without Internet or GPS

Travel search app ixigo has launched one tap cab booking, which can call for a cab even in places without an Internet connection or GPS, such as airports (I’m looking at you Bangalore airport), railway stations and bus stations.
 

 The feature is available on ixigo cabs, a meta aggregator of cabs, autos and ground transportation services. Users can book cabs from  providers such as Uber, Ola, TaxiForSure, EasyCabs, and Jugnoo. ixigo uses a combination of intelligence about the user’s location through existing PNR confirmations on a user’s phone and SMSes for when the internet connection doesn’t work to seamlessly book a cab for the user.

Users need to enable one-tap bookings on the ixigo app and a pop up bubble is placed on the screen, (similar to Facebook’s Messenger). Hold for three seconds to make a booking. The driver details will be shown soon. The app is currently available on Android and not on iOS.