A tale of 2 drivers

So, a new scam:

I thought only the auto drivers of Delhi-NCR, Chennai and Kerala are the rapacious ones.

But the Uber cab drivers in Hyderabad have joined the bandwagon.

I booked an Uber cab in the morning today from my hotel in Hi-Tech City to the airport. It showed 4 minutes waiting time. And that’s at 6.55 in the morning.

After 10 minutes I found that the cab was still at the place it was earlier on.

I called the person - one Jatoth Pradeep with an all 5 star rating. He wanted to know the destination and the fare it was showing. Even though I found his request odd I finally relented and told him it was 643 Rupees.

Without any second thoughts or even hesitation he told me that he will give me a bill of 1500 Rupees and that out of that I need to pay him only 1200 Rupees!

I asked him if he thought I was an idiot? Again nonchalantly he told me that he won’t get any return fare from the airport in the morning and I should pay him the return charges. He refused to cancel the ride from his side and I finally cancelled the ride and thankfully there was no penalty charged.

I booked again and it went to the same guy. I canceled instantly even though I knew that taking the drop from the hotel would be costlier than his asking price.

I requested the receptionist to book a drop for me which she instantly did and said it’ll take five minutes for the driver to reach the lobby.

I then shared my ordeal with her and she said that it’s a practice the Uber drivers have resorted to in the last few months and she also faced it twice when she had to travel.

The hotel cab price came to 2190 Rupees.

I didn’t mind that.

I had quite a comfortable ride to the airport with the driver Rajender.

On getting off at the airport about half an hour later I offered him a packet of falahari mixture on learning that he hadn’t had his breakfast.

We wished each other well and were onto our destinies.