Women decry cab-hailing services

Customers voice disappointment over extra charges and low quality services

Many working women travelling between the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad on a daily basis have expressed disappointment over the extra charges and low quality services being provided by the cab-hailing services introduced a few years ago.

These cab-hailing services soon after their launch introduced many facilities including low fares, quality pick and drop services, cleanliness and quick responses to attract customers. However with the passage of time, they have increased fares and started compromising quality of services, some passengers say.

Facing problems

“I was very much excited over launch of these services in my city and started using it on daily basis due to suitable fares, decent behaviour by [drivers] and speedy pick and drop services, but now we are facing many problems while hiring these cabs and the situation is totally opposite,” Asima Naz, a working woman said.

She said increased fares, peak factors due to shortage of vehicles or some other reasons, delays in arrival of cabs due to inaccurate locations shown on GPS, frequent ride cancellations and unjustified cancellation fees were the main issues faced by customers.

“Hiring these cab services especially when we have to reach somewhere in an emergency becomes so unnerving for us. We have to call the [drivers] again and again to tell them exact location but they follow wrong location shown on their GPS system and finally cancel the ride at eleventh hour or force us to cancel”, government worker Saira Naseer said.