Time to improve the ride

I like the traffic in India, it’s efficient,” a friend I met in a European city told me recently. He had been to Mumbai and Delhi and had returned impressed. This was perhaps the first human being I had met who felt that traffic in cities like Delhi and Mumbai was worth celebrating. Leave alone external visitors, no Indian has ever praised local traffic. Indian roads haven’t improved much despite the quality and choice of cars becoming better. Being in traffic is a hazardous activity. Roads are a mess with driving rules being nothing more than a suggestion to most people behind the wheel. Reading signs on streets has not caught on yet and drivers routinely reverse on high speed highways or try to hop over low dividers. Waiting for a pedestrian to cross the road is considered abhorrent while squeezing into gaps between vehicles is an exciting sport. 

Perhaps it was this last part that impressed my European friend. He said, “Wherever a car can’t fit in, a two wheeler or a three-wheeler squeezes in. Indians don’t waste space on the road.”

This efficiency in space utilisation also means that the few of us who believe in traffic rules enter the road with spirit of a gladiator entering a fight arena. For us and many more the entry of ride sharing companies Ola and Uber has been a saviour for the millions who had to endure poor quality taxis, rickety public buses or the accident prone three-wheeler autorickshaws driven by moody drivers. 

Between Uber and Ola, there are over 1.5 million drivers in over 30 cities in the country. Their impact on city mobility has been immense from the user’s perspective. Some experts estimate that for every ride hailing cab on the road, three personal cars go off the road. Also the utilization of cabs is 95 per cent while personal vehicles are used only 5 per cent over their life time. Rest of the time, they lie idle, parked somewhere. 

The recent call for a strike by some Uber and Ola drivers has once again raised questions about how well these services are run. Over the last couple of years, the companies have taken steps to improve choice, safety and quality for consumers. The drive partners selection has improved, though training and service standards are uneven. Each driver is not an employee but an “entrepreneur” who partners with the company and shares revenue. 

Generally the model has worked. When it was conceived, the idea was to connect personal car owners to potential ride seekers. But over time this evolved to cabs being driven by licensed professional drivers. 

This model needs improvement. There are four stakeholders in the system. The company, the riders, the drivers and the local government. The relationship between the four is not as harmonious. The drivers are unhappy since they are not earning enough. Users feel that the drivers and companies are not consumer friendly. And the government feels that more regulation will help matters. 

All four have to work together to make service better. The ride sharing companies have to help improve the margin of profit for the drivers. In my view, this is at the core of the problem. Drivers have to be on the road for over 12 hours a day for being able to pay for mortgage on the car, fuel costs plus share 25 per cent of the earnings with the cab company (5 per cent within this is for taxes, the companies say). Many drivers have told me that they make between Rs 600-900 of profit per day. This is about Rs 30,000 per month, much lower than the assertion by Uber that drivers earn more than IT professionals. Moreover the money earned by drivers is by working in much tougher conditions than IT professionals, who also get other benefits. 

For users, it is important that each driver earns better and drives lesser. Here is why. Users don’t want to be driven by someone who is working long hours and days without a break. This takes a toll on body and mind and is hazardous for the user and the drivers. Several drivers don’t take a weekly break. Many drive 24 hours at a stretch and then take a 24-hour break. Unfortunately there are no rules for driving hours or driver safety. Since they are “partners” and “entrepreneurs” the cab companies don’t want to control their working hours. 

This is a problem. And it can be resolved by taking a few steps to make life better for drivers.

• Place a limit on how many hours a driver can be on the road. There are human limits to how many hours of driving a person can do. Ensure that drivers take weekly breaks. Their physical and mental fitness can’t be ignored. Lives depend on them. 
   
• Be realistic about earnings and profitability when bringing them on board. Keep expectations low, but help them earn more. Continue to be tough on errant drivers, who compromise user safety. 
   
• Control the number of cars in a city. While market forces are important, cities the world over control the licences given to cabs. Flooding of cabs on the roads will lead to even more desperation among drivers. 

Driving in Indian cities is really hard work. Uber and Ola drivers shouldn’t drive in  desperation. Users don’t want to be driven by desperados. If these and other steps are taken, drivers will earn more. Globally truck drivers, train drivers and of course flight pilots have limits on their working hours. 

If the cab companies don’t regulate this, citizen activism may force the government to step in. India needs cab sharing. More effort is needed to improve the experience for everyone. 

The writer is an economic analyst and author of Kranti Nation: India and The Fourth Industrial Revolution. Views are personal