UBER Inc. : Above and Beyond... Seriously???
03:06
Does Uber cabs really justify its name and fulfill all its promises? Well we are not so sure about that.
A startup which provides ridesharing and taxi services established around mid 2009 has grown pretty big in nick of time. They boast of providing safe taxi rides for everyone at affordable prices and have operations in nearly 45 country and 200 cities.
A startup which provides ridesharing and taxi services established around mid 2009 has grown pretty big in nick of time. They boast of providing safe taxi rides for everyone at affordable prices and have operations in nearly 45 country and 200 cities.
But why am I writing about uber and whats the real deal that brought uber to limelight?? Well the company wont like the answer and surely doesn't want to boast about that. They tell their customers that we are present in 45 countries but do they ever tell them about the number of countries in which lawsuits are filed against them?? Naehhh, never.
Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Philippines, Poland, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, its home country United States and now India; all these countries have registered cases against the taxi giant for one reason or another.
Travis Kalanick and Garett Camp, the founders of uber inc. are riding high on top of the world and are among the richest people walking on earth right now. The idea of developing an app for providing hassle free and easy access to taxis looks brilliant. Just a single click of the button and you can get a ride, its that easy. They use your location to send their drivers nearest to you, use that cab to go wherever you want to, pay online and its done. Everything looks so easy and perfect so why so many countries and people are opposing this service? They don't want good for passengers?
Well I will try to explain what went wrong with uber and their business model. For the starters, a US$ 18.2 billion dollars worth of company doesn't have a call center for complaints of the riders and consumer redressal. If you will try to find a phone number, then you will get it of another company which is listed with similar name. They are so advanced and into the future that they only believe in email communications. Well I wonder if uber's CEO uses a phone or telepathy? We all know about the cost cutting measures which every company adopts to reduce their bills and burden on their pockets but uber is out of that league too...They don't want any bills at all.
Their so called disruptive business model which allows them not to own cars but still provide taxi service is an eyesore for other cab providers. They are expanding so quickly just because of this. It takes less than a day to become an uber taxi driver in India. Any taxi driver who is having a valid driving license and owns a car can apply for the job. You can go to www.uber.com and see for yourself, even apply for the job if you wish to do so.
The recent Delhi rape case by one of the uber's driver could have been avoided if uber had done its best to ensure safety for the women riders. Oh, how can I forget this fact that safety was uber's top priority but still a crime like this took place in the capital of India. This shows the double standards of the so called uber!! If they had carried out background checks correctly, they would have found that the driver was penalised for the sexual assault case in 2011 as well. Its all ifs, buts, apologies now for the company, but for the girl its unbearable agony for the rest of her life. Nobody can understand her pain and sufferings, what she went through and how she gonna deal with it.
Their so called disruptive business model which allows them not to own cars but still provide taxi service is an eyesore for other cab providers. They are expanding so quickly just because of this. It takes less than a day to become an uber taxi driver in India. Any taxi driver who is having a valid driving license and owns a car can apply for the job. You can go to www.uber.com and see for yourself, even apply for the job if you wish to do so.
The recent Delhi rape case by one of the uber's driver could have been avoided if uber had done its best to ensure safety for the women riders. Oh, how can I forget this fact that safety was uber's top priority but still a crime like this took place in the capital of India. This shows the double standards of the so called uber!! If they had carried out background checks correctly, they would have found that the driver was penalised for the sexual assault case in 2011 as well. Its all ifs, buts, apologies now for the company, but for the girl its unbearable agony for the rest of her life. Nobody can understand her pain and sufferings, what she went through and how she gonna deal with it.
Moreover tracking their drivers and locating them by using a mere app installed in the iphones and not using GPS adds another glitter to their ever increasing mistakes. Way back in U.S. uber is having a strong policy on background checks and only allows drivers having 7 years of clean slate to drive for the company but they didn't made this a compulsory policy for rest of the countries.
Well Delhi government has banned uber from operating in the city and in my opinion the ban shall not be removed until and unless uber comes up with a fool proof verification system. Also I will not be surprised if other states follow the footsteps of Delhi.
Well Delhi government has banned uber from operating in the city and in my opinion the ban shall not be removed until and unless uber comes up with a fool proof verification system. Also I will not be surprised if other states follow the footsteps of Delhi.
The problem lies in the thinking of people, their business models and greed to be on top of the world by showing double or triple digits growth figures. Also these angel investors and business tycoons pour so much money into startups and raise their valuations to new heights. This hinders the rational thinking of policy makers who then works for the sake of these investors only. Till now uber is a privately owned company but going with the pace of its expansion plans and reckless policies, an IPO is not very far away. Lets see how much good general public will get by investing in their shares.
Learning from the incidents and life of the victims shall not be considered an option everytime. Afterall human beings are not test subjects who will help in perfecting a business model for the sake of tech giants like Uber.
4 comments
This is literally outrageous! I really didn't know about the pending case on that evil driver in 2011. Thank you Bharat, for such an eye-opener. And I believe, that irrespective of the company performing any background checks, the people riding those cabs should have the full right to do so before hiring any cab.
ReplyDeleteThank you Tanya for reading this. Your feedback is very important. :) :D
DeleteIts all about trust in the company. They should never break that. Deeds of one man forced every online taxi service to stop their operations in Delhi. More people are now on the verge of losing their source of living just because of one bad fish!!
I second your opinion my friend. Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteThnx a lot Anchit for your feedback!! I hope everyone agrees with me just like you.
Delete:) :D