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Uber Drivers In India Will Start Accepting Cash

Posted by Soulskill on from the got-change-for-a-10,000? dept.

jfruh writes: One of the main selling points of ridesharing services like Uber are that they streamline the payment process: everything is taken care of in the app, which is already linked to your credit card. But in many places in the developing world, most people are unbanked and use only cash, and Uber will have to accommodate them to achieve its global ambitions. Thus, the company is launching a pilot project in India where passengers can pay in cash.

34 comments

  1. Finally, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But the reason is not that it is a "developing" market or country, but simply, I for one am not too comfortable having my credit card on Uber's servers. I just don't like the idea of saving my card anywhere (amazon, uber, citrus wallet, whatever).

    And the real reason that Uber is doing this seems to be the mandate by RBI (reserve bank of india) to use 2-factor authentication while doing credit card transactions - something that the Uber-rebellious company refused to do. So what option did they have? Plain ol' cash.

  2. I accept blowjobs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Uber's return on that transaction is that they can go f*ck themselves.

  3. Avoiding Cash by Etherwalk · · Score: 2

    Your FEDGOV already knows where everyone is from cellphones.

    One of the advantages to uber is the Cabbie has a strong disincentive to waste your time trying to pry cash out of you. Regular cabbies in the US commonly pretend their credit card readers aren't working so that they can collect off-books income.

    1. Re:Avoiding Cash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      cables has to pay the CC fees out of pocket

  4. Yes, but do they accept dupes? by erice · · Score: 1

    http://tech.slashdot.org/story...

    1. Re:Yes, but do they accept dupes? by SeaFox · · Score: 1

      No, not dupees. Rupees.

    2. Re:Yes, but do they accept dupes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, not dupees. Rupees.

  5. Do they have proper money in India? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You know, American dollars. Real money.

    1. Re:Do they have proper money in India? by ThatsMyNick · · Score: 2

      Nah, they print their own. It is cheaper.

    2. Re:Do they have proper money in India? by Errol+backfiring · · Score: 1

      Oh yes. I don't think they have zero rupee notes or an equivalent in the USA. At least in Europe we sure could use a € 0,- note. Just look at how Greece is being extorted by the international financial sector.

      --
      Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
  6. Wait. Ssergorp lurking here. by vikingpower · · Score: 2
    Before Uber: person needs a ride. So they get a car that's available. It has "Taxi" written on it, and stands in line waiting at the kerb, or can be waved down. Person gets a ride, and pays in cash.

    With Uber: person needs a ride. So they get a car that's available. It can be found by an app - without the app you're helpless. Person gets a ride, and pays in cash.

    Am I missing something here, or is this ssergorp, the reverse of progress ?

    --
    Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
    1. Re:Wait. Ssergorp lurking here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Before mobile phones, people paid attention to their surroundings instead of fondling their phones all day long. Before social media, people talked to other people around them instead of ignoring everyone. Mobile phones and social media are already the reverse of progress, and you're complaining about one particular app? Get some perspective.

    2. Re:Wait. Ssergorp lurking here. by ThatsMyNick · · Score: 1

      You speak as if Taxis dont take anyone with an Uber app. With Uber: person has two options, take the Taxi that is available, ot use the Uber app. They get to decide what they want. How is this reverse of progress?

    3. Re:Wait. Ssergorp lurking here. by vikingpower · · Score: 1

      This is the reverse of progress because Uber has the potential to push traditional taxis out of the market. It will then be impossible to wave down a cab, or to jump into a waiting one. You'll need an app for getting a taxi - and you'll be dependent upon one single commercial venture, operating worldwide. That is not progress. That is an ingredient for sheer misery.

      --
      Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
    4. Re:Wait. Ssergorp lurking here. by qbast · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, you are missing something - uber thing is mostly about cheating on taxes, license and insurance. That's how you get cheaper than taxi.

    5. Re:Wait. Ssergorp lurking here. by dejanc · · Score: 1

      Before Uber: person needs a ride. So they get a car that's available. It has "Taxi" written on it, and stands in line waiting at the kerb, or can be waved down. Person gets a ride, and pays in cash.

      In Belgrade, Serbia, I can phone a taxi and request a ride. I tell them where I am, and they give me a pretty exact estimate and the number of the cab that's going to pick me up so I can identify legitimacy of the car I am entering. I can also specify smoking/non-smoking vehicle, or I can request a vehicle with an extra-large trunk because I have a lot of luggage. When I am done, I can pay with cash, and some drivers now accept credit cards (in many cities around the world - taxis take credit card regularly).

      I honestly don't have a problem paying with cash - I usually keep enough for a ride in my wallet, and the couple of times that I didn't - I asked the driver to stop by an ATM so I can withdraw some.

      Uber would simply be a competitor to our regular taxi drivers - it wouldn't offer much otherwise (and it would never fly - as our taxi drivers are well organized and won't let competition in that easily). To me, it's much easier to just pick up a phone and speed-dial my favorite taxi dispatching service, than to install an app, learn how to use it, and then invoke it anytime I need a cab.

    6. Re:Wait. Ssergorp lurking here. by ArsenneLupin · · Score: 1

      In Belgrade, Serbia, I can phone a taxi and request a ride.

      Actually, not just in Belgrade, but everywhere where there are taxis. Or at least it's the case in Europe (personally used this in Metz, Toulouse, Berlin, Luxembourg), not sure about the United States. Reliability can vary though (stiffed by a taxi in Metz).

    7. Re:Wait. Ssergorp lurking here. by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

      In Belgrade, Serbia, I can phone a taxi and request a ride.

      Actually, not just in Belgrade, but everywhere where there are taxis. Or at least it's the case in Europe (personally used this in Metz, Toulouse, Berlin, Luxembourg), not sure about the United States. Reliability can vary though (stiffed by a taxi in Metz).

      I was able to call a cab company and ask for a pickup in Nashville, which is a medium-sized city in America. So yes, it can be done in the states as well.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    8. Re:Wait. Ssergorp lurking here. by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      In Belgrade, Serbia, I can phone a taxi and request a ride.

      Actually, not just in Belgrade, but everywhere where there are taxis. Or at least it's the case in Europe (personally used this in Metz, Toulouse, Berlin, Luxembourg), not sure about the United States. Reliability can vary though (stiffed by a taxi in Metz).

      Here in the UK there are two types of taxi: minicabs, which are those you phone and go to your house (or you go to a designated taxi rank to find them) and those you can hail in the street (basically London black cabs).

      Uber is just the former accessed through an app instead of a phone, although I suppose they're edging towards the latter, in which case there will be blood.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    9. Re:Wait. Ssergorp lurking here. by fluffernutter · · Score: 2

      Uber is like the non-handicapped person who parks in the handicapped spot at the supermarket and actually thinks they deserve to be there.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    10. Re:Wait. Ssergorp lurking here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uber accepts the meter fare, most transport forms in India ask for 2x meter rate

    11. Re:Wait. Ssergorp lurking here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since your government actually works, it should be easy to eliminate medallions and make it just about taxes, license, and insurance... Something that requires less rationality from the consumer than good regulations require from the voter.

    12. Re:Wait. Ssergorp lurking here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lots of places don't require medallions and just need taxes, insurance, and licenses. Uber refuses to get those either. Even just one of those individually.

    13. Re:Wait. Ssergorp lurking here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >Am I missing something here

      Taxis aren't some sort of ubiquitous thing that you can just wave down everywhere. Most cities have few enough you could wait a very long time (possibly days) to hail a taxi in the fashion you're suggesting.

      Now, if you're in Times Square, yup, not particularly progress. Now, let's say you're in a suburb of Buffalo. Have fun waving around like a madman trying to get a taxi. At least you'll look crazy enough nobody's going to mug you.

    14. Re:Wait. Ssergorp lurking here. by ericloewe · · Score: 1

      And somehow convinced people it was a valid business model an not a bullshit crowdsourcing effort that effectively crowdsources all the difficult parts.

  7. Maybe streamlining payment... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... isn't quite the streamlining we all imagine it to be.

    Is there a good anonymous electronic cash replacement available yet? As in, as versatile as cash-in-hand?

  8. Re:Avoiding loss by Errol+backfiring · · Score: 1

    Funny, if they can steal your card along with the codes (you have to pay, right?), this means that all your money can be stolen. If I pay with cash, they can only steal the amount of cash I happen to carry on my person. Apart from that, digital currency is just made up by a regular bank when issuing a loan, while paper money is at least a bit more official. Our banking and money system is so fucked up we should depend less on banks, not more.

    --
    Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
  9. Getting them banked by Crashmarik · · Score: 1

    looks like a much bigger market.

  10. BITCOIN! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't need a bank to use Bitcoin!

  11. Do you have to pay extra to not be raped? by TwoStep · · Score: 0

    Or is that a credit-card only feature?

    --
    There are 10 different types of people in this world... those who understand binary, and those who don't.
  12. Not a taxi, oh no by tehcyder · · Score: 1

    There is clearly no connection between a private service that conveys you from A to B in a car for a cash payment and Uber. Taxi, I mean. Hold on...

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  13. So India Uber is no different than Call Taxi by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1
    Some 15 or 20 years ago India introduced "Call Taxi" service. Before that all taxis (and autorickshaws) are the roaming type, or they wait in cab ranks. You luck varies with the driver and there was no reliable repeat-customer relationship to build. Once the cell phones became ubiquitous, this Call Taxi service started. You call the number, either from landline or a mobile and they dispatch the cab for you, it has a meter and you the meter fare. It is a big deal to be able to pay the meter fare and walk way. Invariably you get into argument with the cab driver over the "tips" in a non-call taxi. In USA this looks like a no-brainer, but it came to India only after the cell phone explosion that allowed the drivers to stay in touch with their dispatch centers economically.

    This service is quite popular, since the companies want repeat customers, they enforce the rules of behavior with their drivers and things are pretty good in call taxi business. The only thing Uber is bringing in new is allowing part time drivers and casual drivers to work as taxi drivers. To become a "call taxi" driver, they pay a deposit to the cab company, paint the company livery at their own cost, maintain insurance etc. What can uber do differently? Other than relaxing the rules, deposits and lowering the bar on entry?

    One thing people in the West do not understand is what is expected of the cab driver in India. They are expected to load the suitcases and baggage from the kerb to the cab and if they reach a residence, often expected to assist in unloading. People who have spare and and a spare car might like to moonlight as jitney drivers. But I personally know many who tried it and gave up. People who own cars find it infra-dig, beneath their status and station to load/unload baggage in cars as a menial manual laborer.

    There is an untapped resource, but it is of questionable legality. Many Indians employ car drivers, who drive their bosses to work and sit idle all day in their cars while the bosses are at work. They might be willing to come in or their bosses may allow them to become uber drivers to pick some money. Other than that I don't see how uber changes/improves the call taxi system.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  14. Re:Avoiding loss by Etherwalk · · Score: 1

    Funny, if they can steal your card along with the codes (you have to pay, right?), this means that all your money can be stolen.

    You know that most credit card companies can be set up to alert you to extraordinary spending and don't charge you for fraud, right?

  15. wait, what? cash? what is cash? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does it have anything to do with that funny looking phone my mom has with the dial with all the holes in it (that I have not the foggiest how to use -- where's the contact list?)? Or is it something to do with those old 12" big CDs that my dad has?