Opt for self-drive vehicle, it will be cheaper than Ola, Uber cab services

Those opting for a self-drive vehicle, they do not have to worry about maintenance and insurance costs as they are taken care of by the vehicle providing companies. Reuters

Are cab hailing platforms throwing up unusually high fares for your next ride? Try hiring a self-drive car next time to save a few hundred rupees daily. For example, one-way travel between Sion and Bhayander (in Mumbai) using the ride-hailing platforms cost anywhere above Rs 600. This fare estimate depends on multiple factors of surge pricing which includes traffic congestion, availability of cabs, etc.

However, there have been instances wherein the actual fare has varied from the estimates shown on the mobile application. This primarily is due to congestion faced on the way to an individual’s destination.

“If an individual knows that s/he has an appointment or would be travelling on a particular date at a certain time, one can book a self-drive car, which turns out to be cheaper than Uber and Ola. This is even after factoring in fuel, toll payment and parking charges. Recently, I booked a self-drive car on a couple of occasions and saved a minimum of Rs 600 as compared to the estimates shown on Ola and Uber for having travelled around 70-80 kilometres (km),” said Jignesh Maniar, a self-drive car user.

But why does a self-drive vehicle turn out to be cost-effective as compared to cabs?

“The overall cost of operation for a self-drive car is lesser as compared to those of ride-hailing platforms. There is no cost for a driver in our case, which itself reduces the cost by 30-40%,” replies Greg Moran, co-founder and chief executive officer of Zoomcar, a self-drive company.

Agrees Sakshi Vij, founder and chief executive officer of Myles Cars. “The economics of the set-up is such that it doesn’t include costs for driver and fuel. Approximately, one-third of the cost gets reduced apart from providing flexibility to the individual,” she said.

The ride-hailing platforms also levy a certain percentage of commission ranging between 15%-25% to each of the driver-owners, thereby only adding to the cost.

Those opting for a self-drive vehicle, they do not have to worry about maintenance and insurance costs as they are taken care of by the vehicle providing companies.

The only catch for opting for a self-drive vehicle is that one should know the travel date and time beforehand as they accept bookings a few hours prior to the time of car needed by an individual. Secondly, self-drive cars aren’t cost-effective for one way travel. “People usually opt for cabs to travel distance in the range of 8-15 or 20 km. Whereas, our vehicles are chosen by people to cover 80-100 km in a day,” Moran told  DNA Money.