Many of us are good at pointing out our disapprovals and make sure it’s know to the company that gives you the service. This time my experience with OLA in in Mumbai was similar. Off course, wouldn’t rate all under one pretext. There were few of them who could have done better and few who should be trained better. Like this driver who brought himself to service my ride. He never stopped chewing tobacco and would open door at every traffic halt to spit. Yes, you read this right. Until, I blurted it out not to carry out this behavior as it’s our beloved city of Mumbai and we need to keep it clean. Though he might have ignored my comment, he chewed more and more. Overheard him saying to a friend it was his first day at work. So my kind side did not want him to be out of a job. OLA does not give me option to explain my experience, which is surprising. So it falls under an OTHER category. There should be a CONDUCT option which comprises how the driver conducts his professional side in his dress to work, and unpleasant habits at work place.

I recently downloaded this app on my visit to India. I have two main problems with Ola, one of them about the service itself and the other about this app.1. Service issue: I am visiting a tier-2 city and so far, I haven’t really been able to book one ride on it just yet because of drivers calling up and asking me to give them more money in cash that what is shown in the app. I don’t carry a lot of cash and I have selected my PhonePe wallet as the default payment option with sufficient funds in that wallet. However, every time I try to book, the drivers call me after accepting and start saying things like it won’t work out because of the distance or time or something else and ask that I pay another 50, 100, or more in case upon reaching. Figure out the proper fares and show the same in the app rather than allowing this false-advertising. It feels shady.2. App issue: I have enabled notifications for this app so I am notified about the details of my ride. However I am not interested in any marketing or promotional notifications. The app does not provide any way for users to choose the type of notifications they want to receive. It’s neither in the app, nor in the iOS settings. It’s like the developers just want to use this opportunity to push as much advertising as possible, and abuse the need for ride-based notifications. Unprofessional, and reeks of desperation.

Please educate the auto drivers about your policies and procedures. I have difficult time getting an auto driver to accept Ola money. They say they do not get the money properly. I have witnessed this myself once. I had booked an auto it showed the fare as 75 rs for the first two times and the drivers refused to accept Ola money, third time it did not give me the fare details, but I assumed it must be 75 rupees. When the auto driver asked me how much is the fare, I told him 75 rs . After the ride ended, I got a call from the driver as he got only 25 or 30 rupees from Ola . when I checked my bill on Ola app, it has only 32 rupees for the ride, which is very low and I have never paid a fare that low whenever I have used Ola before . Second thing is that when I add 1 stop in my ride details, it is not shown on the drivers side. They come to know about it only when I tell them and they either refuse or want more money. The reason many drivers quote for not taking Ola money is that it does not get credited to them instantly, so they prefer cash as they can use it to fill gas. I have to call the driver every time to tell them I am paying using Ola money, so that they are aware of it, rather than them coming to know when I get in their auto and them complaining all throughout the ride. So if Ola can fix this issue I think it will make the life of people in similar situations less stressful and rides more enjoyable. I understand the difficulties the auto drivers face, so if Ola can hear their concerns and fix it will help your customer base in the long run. Thank you.

I used Ola numerous times on a recent trip, and it’s quite good, but there are areas it can improve. 1. The cars available and time to pickup are completely used to get to to select , and maybe not switch to Uber. On almost every occasion I would see cars around, times indicated as 2-3 minutes and NEVER did a car arrive in less than 2-4 times the initial estimate. 2. Too often drivers would accept and then 5-10 minutes later after showing it was accepted and who the driver was etc., would randomly cancel. If during this time, as it’s often double or triple what was estimated and you cancel, you are charged a fee.3. And the number one reason I will use Uber more is that I pre-scheduled a ride to the airport, it was confirmed. At 6am while outside waiting for the ride I received a notice that the ride was canceled. No reason, no notice after it was ‘guaranteed’ just ‘canceled’ and your on your own. NEVER using the app again. My pre-booked ride was just under 400 INR, last minute cab call due to Ola canceling was 800 INR. Of course they won’t refund the difference, and I always like how if I had canceled I am assessed a fee. 4. In the last 3 weeks I have requested an auto rickshaw 6 times , not a single time would a driver accept and if they did , they would cancel after a number of minutes while waiting after it was accepted In summary, they have tried to copy Uber but the algorithm for cars etc. is way off, and they need to fine drivers who accept and cancel. This alone makes the app not worth using.Rating, 5 out of 10