Mumbai Ola Luxury vs Uber Cabs. Review on Ola Cabs

I have used ola luxury twice for going to the airport and got a CRV and Fortuner so the cars are decent. this option is best for those people who get ac taxi reimbursed or can at least deduct transportation expenses from their tax returns. here are the main differences between uber and ola LUXURY for Mumbai & Delhi:

1. Ola allows advance bookings while Uber does not so its riskier when you have a hard deadline like airports. uber usually takes at least 10-20 min to reach you after booking assuming the driver does not get lost. the ola drivers seem to arrive 5-10 min early which is better.

ola+1; uber= 0

1. Ola has no option to pay by card while uber does so its much faster / convenient since many drivers don't have exact change

ola= 1; uber+1

1. Uber does not have any option for cash payment at all while ola does of course. this is good when you want to book a cab for another person [who may not have a smartphone or mobile app installed]

ola= 2; uber= 1

1. Ola takes phone bookings while uber does not [only ios, bb, android apps]

ola= 3; uber= 1

1. Uber sends you a receipt after each trip showing the breakup of charges to your email while ola does not which is great for those who need to submit expenses. the ola app has an option to email invoices but you have to key in your mail id instead of this happening automatically like with meru cabs.

ola= 3; uber= 2

1. Ola has no bonus for new customers while uber gives a rs. 300 credit per mail / phone if you use a code like el91c. I have noticed that currently uber is not checking landlines v/s mobiles so I have used my work and home numbers also [as long as the driver can call you to confirm].

ola= 3; uber= 3

1. Ola only gives rs. 200 for referrals [TEW2R9] while uber gives rs. 300 if you use the promo code ns8yp. since uber is available in a dozen countries abroad, you should register as a new user to get the full credit - we got AED 80 in dubai and you would get$20 in america. in case you have not got local sims to register for your phone, you can also use your hotel landline as long as you remember to put your room number in the last name field so that driver can contact the lobby. this way you maximise your new rider bonuses for each country.

ola= 3; uber= 4

1. Uber requires card details including cvv / cvc which is risky while other cab companies don't store that info after the ride is over

ola= 4; uber= 4

1. Even if you are NOT using uber for many months, they still require your card details just to maintain your account so if their servers get hacked, you would be liable for unauthorised charges. this is an extremely dumb policy given that even apple has had card details stolen and they spend almost a billion$ on security so uber can't possibly outspend them to protect customer card details. this is a big enough issue that i'm giving uber -1 until they resolve the security hole.

Ola= 4; uber= 3

NEVER use your debit cards on uber - you are just begging to have your entire savings drained if the data is stolen. If you have a PSB card like SBI gold then its disabled for unauthenticated transactions [e.g., foreign payments] which is much safer as long as you never use it abroad.

1. Uber has a rs. 200 cancellation fee while other cabs do not and since your card is already on file before you book, they will charge it directly. since we have our own car & driver, if ola is late we can simply leave on time but with uber there is a penalty.

ola= 5; uber= 3

1. Ola has
   
   

ola= 6; uber= 3

1. Uber never declines short rides unlike meru or mega cabs since the min charge is rs. 200. the others will simply claim that no cab is available which is illegal [fare refusal] since there is no way for the customer to know if any drivers are actually free or not.

ola= 6; uber= 4

1. Uber seems to have better cars than ola in Delhi - we got a BMW 3 series, Audi A6, MB C Class, Accord, E class, Camry, Fortuner, Audi Q3 when we booked.

ola= 6; uber= 5

1. Uber has no way of telling you what car is available so its a blind booking and you may be stuck with whatever was available but at least on the phone you can inform ola of your preferences. if they honour your choices or not is a different issue but uber could use more transparency before booking since its not cancellable.

ola= 7; uber= 5