Letters to The EDITOR- Securing digital payment for Ola/Uber rides

Securing digital payment for Ola/Uber rides

Of late I have observed that Ola/Uber drivers are refusing to ply for drives if the payment mode is digital. It is a very bitter experience for passengers like us who hire cabs from these two cab aggregators when a very convenient and safe mode of settling payments is avoided. While the home-grown aggregator Ola uses its own in-house wallet called ‘Ola Money’ for digital payments, Uber has tie-up with Paytm for enabling its customers to make payments digitally for the rides.

The drivers state that Ola/ Uber delay payments to them which hamper their refuelling with no hard cash in their hands. Uber is allegedly taking one week to settle their payments from passengers. This is a genuine problem of the drivers which these two cab hailing aggregators need to address immediately so that passengers who are comfortable with digital payments are not put into difficulty and deprived of an avenue of payment. Ola should not delay payments at all if the payments are made using ‘Ola Money’, where ownership rests with them.

With government pushing for digitization of economy, these unfriendly acts of Ola/ Uber should be considered as non-cooperation with government.

Rajib Sarma,

Gandhibasti, Guwahati.