My wife and I spent three weeks in late December/early January in Sri Lanka and India. As always, we had a fabulous time. This time around, I got a chance to give two talks. One at CUSAT (Cochin University of Science And Technology) on MOOCs and another at MOP Vaishnav College for Women on emerging technologies. They were well received and there were some great questions.

We spend a lot of time in Chennai whenever we visit, because that is where most of our family members live. When we are in Chennai, we rely on autorickshaws (the three wheelers with the top covered), or simply “autos”, and taxis. Whereas autos are very easy to find anywhere in the city, that is not the case with taxis. In other words, you can easily “hail an auto” but not a taxi. You basically have to call in a taxi. There are variations in the theme. For example, when you arrive at the airport, there are “prepaid” taxis where you pay a flat fee, but then there are the ones that go by the meter and then there are many who do whatever they want. Taxis are costlier than autos, so generally, the local population favors auto. When you go from the US, given that each dollar buys you 61 Indian Rupees, you will see that the rides are ridiculously cheap. For eg. the 13 KM (8 miles) ride from the airport to my in-laws’ home cost about $6 in a taxi.

Riding in the auto is an experience in itself! It is cheap alright, but the greatest advantage is it’s agility. The traffic in the city has become a nightmare and the best way to get to where you want to are two wheelers like scooters or motorbikes. Since we can’t do that, the next best option is Auto. The driver will squeeze you through in traffic, take the local alley ways etc. You will be breathing all the polluted air, but that you cannot avoid whether you ride the auto not! However, the auto drivers almost never charge by the meter, despite the fact that it is the law. Negotiations with them is an art. And no matter what you do, they know that you are not a local! They can sock it to you. I hate it when they try to cheat me and try to find an honest driver who goes by the meter, but then tip him so heavily for his honesty. The other advantage with the auto is that most of them know about the city and will get you where you need to go. Most cab drivers have no idea (they are not locals) and you better know your way. Thanks to Google Maps, I survived. Not that I don’t know to navigate the city, but with massive expansion and constant construction, there are one way roads that have popped up all over that I don’t know about. Google knows all about them, of course! 

But then someone told me about an app called Ola Cabs. In a nutshell, it is like an Uber or a Lyft. But with a local twist. Though it is called Cabs, you can also get an auto. You can get an auto or cabs of three different sizes. All cabs are air conditioned (not always the case otherwise). All participating vehicles go by the meter + 10 Indian Rupees in service charge. It is when you take a ride in one of the Ola hailed vehicles you realize how much the auto drivers have been cheating you by. You fire up the app and choose the type of vehicle you want. You need to register and provide an email and a mobile number. It shows on the map the nearby vehicles and the time before a vehicle can be at your destination. You can either book the ride then or for a future time (for eg. for a flight later on). You get immediate confirmation as an email and a text message. Once they have located a vehicle, they send you a text with the cell number and name of the driver for direct communication.

Even the Ola Cab drivers, we found out, are not locals. So, you have to tell them how to get to you first. Once, the driver went to a different location by the same name, 5 kms away! All the cabs are equipped with a smart phone and some drivers are sophisticated enough to use the maps, but many told me “You have a smartphone no, can you use your map and direct me?” That’s smart. I believe that the autos are equipped with some other GPS tracking device because it is hard to work with a smartphone while driving an auto. You complete the ride and the driver closes the meter. You immediately get a text and an email which says “this is the exact amount you should pay the driver”. No need to ask the driver for a receipt! My jaw dropped when I looked at the cost of some of our rides. If only all the other drivers go by the meter, many locals will readily ride the autos without any negotiations (may be not!). I got 100 Indian Rs off the third ride for signing up with Ola Cabs. I didn’t have to do anything. It automatically was applied to my fourth ride. No need to print a coupon, no need to worry about taking it with you & no need to worry about expiry date!

Once I cancelled a ride because I just could not get the driver to understand where to pick us up. I immediately got a call from Ola Cabs apologizing profusely for the mixup. That was great. I love the app for its simplicity, the fabulous interface, the communication etc. All these vehicles are fitted with devices that are communicating in a way that your ride appears on the map. If you are riding alone at night and are worried about getting to where you need to, you can provide some details so your loved ones can potentially track your ride and see whether your vehicle is on the right path. Of course, if you don’t want such tracking you have no obligations to provide that information!

All in all, both my wife and I were extremely satisfied with the app, with the drivers, with the customer service and everything! Unfortunately, it is only available in India. If you happen to go there, download the app and use it.