Review : Uber vs Ola for a First Time User in India !

With Ola acquiring TaxiForSure for $200 million, it would be interesting to see Uber's next step to deepen its reach amongst Indians. Anyway, until there is competition between these cab aggregators, it's better for customers and drivers since customers are getting deep discounts and drivers are getting paid better. Moreover drivers are getting extra rewards for logging in over 10 hours a day from Ola and Uber to retain them.

I took cabs from both Uber and Ola during February and came to know about things from both customer's and driver's perspective. Drivers are more inclined to Uber since they are burning cash excessively. The Ola driver I took a ride with had a Micromax phone while the Uber driver had an iPhone.

Following is my experience and review of Uber and Ola in India :

Experience with Ola in India

Ola has 3 types of cabs - Mini, Sedan and Prime. Mini is cheapest while Prime is costliest with Sedan in the medium range. Most of the time, Prime is unavailable to me. Mini has the lowest time to reach with Sedan being next.

As per Ola, Mini segment contains cars like Maruti Ritz,Nissan Micra and Tata Indica but both when I booked a Mini cab, I got a Maruti Eeco. The cab condition was average.

Sedan segment contains cars like Toyota Etios, Tata Indigo and Maruti Swift Dzire.

Prime segment contains cars like Altis, Aria and Toyota Innova.

Since I was a first time user, I used a referral code to sign up to get free Rs.100 Ola money and used code APP200 during booking the ride to get Rs.200 off on my ride. You can use my referral code N9VT3C to get free Rs.100 Ola money. In total, you can get Rs.300 off on your first ride using Ola. The best thing with Ola is that if your bill comes less than Rs.200, then only APP200 promo code would be used and Rs.100 Ola money would remain as it is.

I travelled a total distance of 5.89 kilometres and the bill came out to be Rs.119. The APP200 promo code was used for the ride and Rs.100 Ola money remained untouched.

If you travel for more than Rs.300, then you would have to pay extra amount in cash. You don't have to add any credit card or payment wallet like PayTM to your Ola account unlike Uber.

Below is the pic of fare after using Ola : 

Below is the pic of rates of Ola in Delhi :

When you refer your friend, Ola gives your Rs.100 Ola money to your friend and Rs.100 to you when your friend takes the first ride. Uber is better in this instance.

Ola also provides autos but it takes Rs.10 extra convenience charge plus you have to pay in cash since Ola money doesn't work in that case.

Experience with Uber in India

Uber has three types of cabs - uberGO, uberX and UberBLACK. uberGO is cheapest while UberBLACK is costliest with uberX in the medium range. uberX is available in lowest time with uberBlack being the next. Most of the time, uberGO is not available.

uberGO contains hatchback cars like Etios Liva and Maruti Ritz and is equivalent to Ola Mini.

uberX contains cars like Maruti Swift Dzire, Toyota Etios and Tata Manza. When I booked uberX, I got Swift Dzire. The cab condition was awesome.

uberBLACK contains cars like Toyota Innova, Mahindra Xylo and  Tata Indigo CS. Initially during the uber launch in India, this segment used to contain luxury cars like Mercedes, BMW and Audi.

Since I was a first time user, I used a promo code to get free Rs.300 off on my first ride. Currently the offer has increased from Rs.300 to Rs.600. You can use my promo code 22i3d for free Rs.600 off on your first ride on Uber. You cal also sign up here to apply code automatically. Whether your bill comes Rs.400 or Rs.550, the whole promo code would be deducted from your account. Ola is better in this instance.

I travelled a total distance of 7.42 kilometres and the bill came out to be Rs.201.17. The whole promo code was exhausted with Rs.0 credits in my account.

Below is the pic of fare after using Uber :

 Before you can book a ride using Uber, you have to add PayTM wallet and add Rs.200 in PayTM wallet. If you travel worth more than Rs.600, then the remaining amount would be deducted from the wallet.If you travel worth more than Rs.800, then you would have to pay existing bill before you could book your next ride.

At the moment of writing this blog post, Uber has dropped fares by up to 40% off across all three cab segments. Below is the pic of rates of Uber in Delhi :

When you refer your friend to Uber, your friend gets Rs.600 off on his first ride and you get a free ride worth Rs.600 when your friends takes his first ride. In referral scheme, Uber is better than Ola who gives just Rs.100.

Note : I used both Uber and Ola in Delhi.

Conclusion

Since Indians are still in the process of embracing online payments, Uber needs to add an option of paying via cash just like Ola .
Ola needs to increase its referral credits from Rs.100 to Rs.300 600 just like Uber. Just my two paise.

Sign Up Now

If you are going to sign up with Ola, download the app as per your phone from Google Play Store, iTunes App Store and Windows Phone App Store  and apply the referral code N9VT3C to get free Rs.100 Ola money. While taking your first ride, use code APP200 for Rs.200 off on first ride.

If you are going to sign up with Uber, download the app as per your phone from Google Play Store, iTunes App Store and Windows Phone App Store  or sign up at Uber and apply the promo code 22i3d to get free Rs.600 off on your first ride.