6 ms·

Delhi to penalise Ola and Uber for surge pricing during odd-even restrictions

10 points by electic 10y ago

Overtonwindow 10y ago
I get the concept, but I think surge pricing is useless. It doesn't put more drivers on the road, it lets drivers time their working hours to maximize profit. Not that's a bad thing, it just sucks as a passenger.
- Declanomous 10y ago
  I don't think surge pricing affects the number of drivers in the immediate moment. I think the effect of surge pricing is meaningful over the long term though. Drivers who could be pursuing other methods of making money will choose to drive for Uber instead of doing something else, like driving a normal taxi. Surge pricing also has the affect of reducing the number of people calling Uber. This ensures the people who have the highest ability to pay continue to view your service as a fast, reliable and comfortable alternative to the ever-present taxi. In this sense, surge pricing effectively creates tiered service automatically.
- randyrand 10y ago
  I usually get on the road when surge goes up past 2x. So considering I am 1 person, and 1 person is more than 0, surge pricing does put more drivers on the road. Does that prove surge pricing is "fair?" No. And you should always assume a company is operating int their best interest. This is why competition is important. Fortunately the entry costs to the ride sharing economy are small. Apps are easy to make. Regulations sometimes pretty minimal. Theres little to stop anyone from making a better Uber.
  - Eridrus 10y ago
    Do you manage to get a fair before the surge pricing goes away? I've read drivers complain that some surge pricing was too short lived in SF for them to consider chasing it. Could you also elaborate on the tools Uber gives to help you figure out when to drive?
  - ubernostrum 10y ago
    Regulations sometimes pretty minimal. Theres little to stop anyone from making a better Uber. Careful, there. Various jurisdictions are getting smart and coming at Uber and Lyft in ways that aren't easily dismissed by the "we're just disrupting, bro" or "rent-seeking rent-seekers gonna rent-seek" arguments that typically are brought out. Specifically, they're acting in ways which follow logically from taking claims at face value. Uber claims its drivers aren't employees, so SF is saying they need to pay the same registration fees as every other sole proprietor operating in the city, and on the other side of the country in NY there's a suit pointing out that a bunch of "independent" contractors who all somehow perfectly coordinate changes to the fares they charge are a perfectly obvious violation of antitrust law.
    - randyrand 10y ago
      Then SF is a good example of regulations gone bad. SF regulations should encourage competition, not diminish it.
      - ubernostrum 10y ago
        If every other sole proprietorship in the city has to pay a registration fee, why shouldn't an Uber driver have to? The "rules for thee and not for me" attitude is a big part of why people dislike Uber as a company.
        randyrand 10y ago
        No one should be paying registration fees. Registration is incredibly cheap in the day of computers, and their costs are not justified. They're also regressive, and hurt the small guys most. Laws should encourage free market competition, not diminish it. So in that vain, a registration fee needs to be removed or otherwise paid for through tax revenue. There are already enough reasons starting a business is hard, we don't need to add more.
        ubernostrum 10y ago
        No one should be paying registration fees. Except the Uber approach isn't to try to truly level the playing field. It's to just decide "this law is inconvenient, I'm going to let my competitors deal with the overhead of it and ignore it myself". There's no high and lofty principle in that, just arrogant entitlement.
- uremog 10y ago
  I know some people who drive as a side-job and only get on during surge pricing.
- ZeroGravitas 10y ago
  > It doesn't put more drivers on the road, it lets drivers time their working hours to maximize profit. Aren't these the same thing? Another way to phrase it would be that "drivers time their working hours to meet high customer demand". So, even if there were no additional drivers, there would be more at the times that most people want one.
- mikeraimondi 10y ago
  This paper finds that surge pricing does put more drivers on the road: http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/chris.nosko/research/effects_of_uber's_surge_pricing.pdf http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/chris.nosko/research/effects...
dang 10y ago
Url changed from http://www.engadget.com/2016/04/18/uber-forced-to-suspend-surge-pricing-in-delhi/ http://www.engadget.com/2016/04/18/uber-forced-to-suspend-su..., which points to this.

10 points by electic 10y ago

I get the concept, but I think surge pricing is useless. It doesn't put more drivers on the road, it lets drivers time their working hours to maximize profit. Not that's a bad thing, it just sucks as a passenger.

Declanomous 10y ago
I don't think surge pricing affects the number of drivers in the immediate moment. I think the effect of surge pricing is meaningful over the long term though. Drivers who could be pursuing other methods of making money will choose to drive for Uber instead of doing something else, like driving a normal taxi. Surge pricing also has the affect of reducing the number of people calling Uber. This ensures the people who have the highest ability to pay continue to view your service as a fast, reliable and comfortable alternative to the ever-present taxi. In this sense, surge pricing effectively creates tiered service automatically.
randyrand 10y ago
I usually get on the road when surge goes up past 2x. So considering I am 1 person, and 1 person is more than 0, surge pricing does put more drivers on the road. Does that prove surge pricing is "fair?" No. And you should always assume a company is operating int their best interest. This is why competition is important. Fortunately the entry costs to the ride sharing economy are small. Apps are easy to make. Regulations sometimes pretty minimal. Theres little to stop anyone from making a better Uber.
- Eridrus 10y ago
  Do you manage to get a fair before the surge pricing goes away? I've read drivers complain that some surge pricing was too short lived in SF for them to consider chasing it. Could you also elaborate on the tools Uber gives to help you figure out when to drive?
- ubernostrum 10y ago
  Regulations sometimes pretty minimal. Theres little to stop anyone from making a better Uber. Careful, there. Various jurisdictions are getting smart and coming at Uber and Lyft in ways that aren't easily dismissed by the "we're just disrupting, bro" or "rent-seeking rent-seekers gonna rent-seek" arguments that typically are brought out. Specifically, they're acting in ways which follow logically from taking claims at face value. Uber claims its drivers aren't employees, so SF is saying they need to pay the same registration fees as every other sole proprietor operating in the city, and on the other side of the country in NY there's a suit pointing out that a bunch of "independent" contractors who all somehow perfectly coordinate changes to the fares they charge are a perfectly obvious violation of antitrust law.
  - randyrand 10y ago
    Then SF is a good example of regulations gone bad. SF regulations should encourage competition, not diminish it.
    - ubernostrum 10y ago
      If every other sole proprietorship in the city has to pay a registration fee, why shouldn't an Uber driver have to? The "rules for thee and not for me" attitude is a big part of why people dislike Uber as a company.
      - randyrand 10y ago
        No one should be paying registration fees. Registration is incredibly cheap in the day of computers, and their costs are not justified. They're also regressive, and hurt the small guys most. Laws should encourage free market competition, not diminish it. So in that vain, a registration fee needs to be removed or otherwise paid for through tax revenue. There are already enough reasons starting a business is hard, we don't need to add more.
        ubernostrum 10y ago
        No one should be paying registration fees. Except the Uber approach isn't to try to truly level the playing field. It's to just decide "this law is inconvenient, I'm going to let my competitors deal with the overhead of it and ignore it myself". There's no high and lofty principle in that, just arrogant entitlement.
uremog 10y ago
I know some people who drive as a side-job and only get on during surge pricing.
ZeroGravitas 10y ago
> It doesn't put more drivers on the road, it lets drivers time their working hours to maximize profit. Aren't these the same thing? Another way to phrase it would be that "drivers time their working hours to meet high customer demand". So, even if there were no additional drivers, there would be more at the times that most people want one.
mikeraimondi 10y ago
This paper finds that surge pricing does put more drivers on the road: http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/chris.nosko/research/effects_of_uber's_surge_pricing.pdf http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/chris.nosko/research/effects...

dang 10y ago

Url changed from http://www.engadget.com/2016/04/18/uber-forced-to-suspend-surge-pricing-in-delhi/ http://www.engadget.com/2016/04/18/uber-forced-to-suspend-su..., which points to this.