Patrons take dig at move to let Uber drivers see drop details

PUNE: Passengers have decried the move by cab aggregator Uber to allow its driver partners to see trip destinations and payment mode and take a call on whether to accept a trip or not.
They said the move will lead to more cancellations and increase woes of passengers. "How does one guarantee that a driver, after seeing trip destination, will not cancel the ride. This will lead to more cancellations and increase the problem faced by passengers," Shekhar Chavan, a regular passenger, said.

"Drivers now cancel rides without even knowing the trip destinations. So, how will this step help passengers?" Varun Agrawal, a working professional, said.
On Thursday, Uber announced a slew of steps which it said will reduce trip cancellations and hassles faced by passengers.
"Earlier the option, where a driver partner could see the destination booked by a customer, was on as a pilot project in some cities. However, the same has now been made available for drivers in 20 cities, including Pune," an Uber spokesperson, said.
The official said that drivers will have the option now to check the payment mode, too. "We are now showing drivers the mode of payment before a trip starts. This enables a driver to choose a cash-only ride, if that's what they need. To make cash or online decision irrelevant, we have introduced a daily payment process for drivers," Nitish Bhushan, director, central operations, Uber India, said.
"We have introduced additional earnings for drivers for long-distance rides. They will be able to see earnings for long-distance pickups separately displayed on the fare receipt," he added.