Coronavirus pandemic | Ola, Uber among others drop fares as demand falls nearly 50%

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While people started adopting social distancing as a measure to slow the spread of coronavirus, app-based cab services providers like Ola, Uber and Meru have dropped fares after demand for such services dropped nearly nearly 50 percent over the last two weeks, ET Tech has reported.

India has reported 166 COVID-19 cases so far, including foreign nationals. Of these, 15 people have been cured while three have died.

The central and state governments have urged people to avoid non-essential traveling. Also, the Centre has temporarily banned entry of passengers from 36 countries to India.

All this has affected the ridership of online cab service providers.

The situation has come as a double whammy for drivers working for such platforms as they are completing fewer rides each day and also earning less on each trip they complete, said the report.

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Asked about the ongoing condition, a senior Ola executive told the publication that they understand the “dire situation” in which the drivers are in and hope things normalise soon.

However, the ride-hailing firm has not yet taken any measures to aid driver earnings, the official was quoted as saying.

Another ride-hailing platform Uber has tweaked its global policy as it would now compensate drivers for up to 14 days of sick leave in case they are placed under quarantine, said the report.

The business of Meru has dropped 25-30 percent in the past few days, said the report citing Neeraj Gupta, the founder and CEO of Meru Mobility.

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The firm has reduced fares by a flat 40 percent on the Meru app, with fares starting as low as Rs 39, said Gupta.

Meanwhile, bike taxi provider Rapido said its ridership had not dropped as it did not serve too many white-collared workers.

In talks with the publication, Aravind Sanka, the co-founder and CEO of Rapido, said his platform is mostly used by blue-collared workers, who did not have the luxury to work from home.

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The ridership of Bounce and Vogo, the two players in the scooter rental space that started their operations in Bengaluru, have also seen only 10-15 percent drop.

Yulu, which operates in the cycles and two-wheeler electric vehicles rental space, also said that its business had been impacted by under 10 percent, added the report.