Taking benefit of free rides the rightway
Multiple accounts on the same device or money transferred to mobile wallets from the same card can lead to loss of free credits
Most taxi-hailing start-ups have gained traction by using referral programmes that offer discounts to existing customers if they get others to use the service. However, there seems to be a realisation that these discount programmes are being misused. Consequently, companies have started putting filters and software to detect such users. And, customers are seeing free rides worth thousands suddenly disappear from their accounts.
A Uber customer, who does not wish to be named, says he had around ~5,000 worth of free rides in his account. It all disappeared suddenly on one day. Some days earlier, he tried to book a cab to his office after a meeting. The transaction didn’t go through. When he reached office, he realised all the money he earned through the referral was gone. “When I contacted the customer support, they told me I had violated their terms and conditions. I still don’t know what went wrong,” he says.
How referrals work
When a person downloads the app and signs up, he or she gets an invitation code. He or she needs to share it with others. When friends and family use the code in their maiden ride, the original code owner is credited with money.
Uber, the world’s second most valuable start-up, offers a princely sum of ~600. Ola Cabs and TaxiForSure offer a benefit of ~100 to each user. Though Meru has a referral programme in place, it has not yet started it. The company offers a flat ~150 off on the first ride.
Accounts suspended?
When a customer signs up, companies use different parameters to look for genuineness of the account. Rathin Lahiri, chief marketing officer at Meru Cabs, explains they authenticate the customer by checking the e-mail address, phone number and IMEI code. So, even if a person makes a new account by using a new SIM card and a different e-mail account but on the same phone, he or she might not be able to take the benefit of the promotion multiple times.
“Companies are spending on discounts to change consumer behaviour. The idea is that more people should experience the benefits we offer first-hand and realise that radio taxis are convenient, hassle-free and cheaper than maintaining a chauffer-driven car,” Lahiri says.
When asked the reasons that can lead to deletion of referral credits and how the company tracks it, the Uber spokesperson said in a written reply: “Illegal account activity pertaining to promotions is tracked and monitored automatically (using algorithms).” He directed to the referral policy, which says: “Public distribution (of referral code) on sites where you are a contributor but not the primary content owner (e.g, Wikipedia, coupon websites) is not allowed. Promoting your referral code via Search Engine Marketing (e.g, AdWords/Yahoo/Bing) is also not allowed.” E-mails to Ola Cabs and TaxiForSure remained unanswered.
Benefiting from promotions
Of course, the best way to benefit from these apps is to follow the policy laid down by the companies. When you install these, they ask for various permissions that help them collect data. Some of these include your name, e-mail accounts on the phone, IMEI number and location services. These help the companies to track the customers.
At times, following the rules might not be possible. Say, your parents don’t have an electronic payment mechanism to transfer money to the app wallet and they need to use the one you have. Use a different mode for such transactions. If you use a credit card with your mobile wallet, use a different credit card for your parents or debit card or online bank transfer. Some users who lost their free rides feel their referral credits were deleted because they used the same credit/debit card to transfer money to different accounts.
Using multiple accounts on your phone can also lead to companies deleting your free rides. Say, you have a friend who is unable to access a taxi service on their mobile. To help them, you sign out from your account and log in with their credentials. Companies track the IMEI number and the system might flag you for using multiple accounts from the same device.