Riddled with complaints of harassment and inconvenience from commuters, ride-sharing service Uber in Bangladesh is taking a hit in terms of reputation.
Issues like failure to pick up passengers in time, transferring ride requests from passengers to other drivers, multiple cancellations of rides, exorbitant fares and not accepting bKash payments are forcing many regular users to abandon it.
On September 16, this correspondent called for an Uber ride to go from Baridhara J Block to Badda. The trip got cancelled three times, and Uber charged Tk 30 from the bKash account without providing any service.
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Jannatul Begum, who works at a private company, had to go through the same ordeal last month. One morning, she called for an Uber ride to go from Bashundhara to Paltan. Her trip got cancelled twice. The first driver had accepted her ride request but informed 30 minutes later that the trip has been cancelled due to gas shortage.
The first driver then transferred Jannatul’s ride request to a second driver, who, after taking 20 minutes, informed her that he too won’t be able to make the ride. The office-goer then had to take a CNG-run three-wheeler.
“I would’ve managed some other vehicle had I known that my trip will be cancelled after confirmation. Besides, fare of an Uber trip from Bashundhara to Baitul Mukarram in Paltan is around Tk 800-900, which is very high compared to other types of rides. That’s why I’ve stopped using Uber,” Jannatul said.
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Mehedi Hasan had been a regular user of Uber before he stopped. While talking to UNB, he discussed some issues which are behind the gradual decline of the ride-sharing service.
“Nowadays, passengers can’t find Uber rides when needed. Drivers also don’t want to make the trip if they don’t like the destination. Fares have also gone up, and many drivers are unwilling to accept bKash payments though Uber has added that as an option,” Mehedi said.
Asked about these issues, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) Chairman Nur Mohammad Majumder told UNB that they will look into the complaints made against Uber and take legal steps if any passenger is found to have been harassed.
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“We had permitted Uber to operate here with a view to ease the commuting issues. In order to keep its operations running, Uber has to provide services considering the best interests of the passengers. There are certain conditions that Uber has to follow, and one of them is preventing harassment of passengers at any cost,” said Nur.
About high fares, the BRTA chairman added that another condition that Uber must follow is to keep the fare reasonable.
“Uber has to set the fares considering the present situation. We’ll definitely fine Uber if we receive complaints of charging excessive fares,” Nur added.
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Contacted by UNB through its public relations agency in Bangladesh, Benchmark PR, Uber acknowledged the issues.
“Long waits and driver cancelling trips fall short of our promise to deliver a magical experience to riders. We are working hard to address this and have launched a slew of new features for driver partners,” it said.
It further said, “To remove frustration for riders and drivers alike, we now show trip destinations to drivers upfront before they decide to accept the ride. We are also showing drivers the mode of payment (cash or online) before the trip starts. In case of any concerns while using our platform, we also encourage our users to raise complaints through the app for timely and efficient resolution.”
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