| Hello folks, It's Saritha Rai in India with a question on the mind of every gig economy user in the country. Is the ride-hailing party over? One day last month, I arrived for an afternoon meeting at a venture capital firm in town and by the time I finished in the evening, traffic was bumper to bumper on the streets below. Nervously, I hailed an Uber. The app matched me with a driver, but then chaos followed. The wait times oscillated violently between a few minutes and as many as 17. Then, without warning, the driver disappeared in the fumes of expectation, leaving me stranded. A bit later, the app showed he was a full 39 minutes away. I got another ride home. Past 10 that night, I was being chauffeured home from a wedding reception when my phone rang. It was an Uber driver announcing, "Ma'am, I've reached." I was confused for a moment but then it dawned on me: the cab I ordered several hours prior had arrived. I told the driver that I had ordered the cab at 6 pm. He hung up. A few minutes later, Uber had deducted a cancellation fee from my account. When I disputed, Uber asked me, "Are you sure you want to dispute? Your driver traveled 7 kilometers and spent 18 minutes in traffic." Everywhere I go, Uber Technologies Inc.'s flawed and falling service standards are a conversation opener. The Indians who'd previously decided they no longer needed to own a car are among the loudest in griping about dramatic price increases, long wait times and shortages of available cars. They bemoan the trick drivers repeatedly play on them: accepting the ride, calling the passenger to ask their destination, and if not convenient, canceling and leaving the traveler stranded. And instead of helping, Uber charges customers for these events.
Aside from rarely being on time, Uber cars are often also unclean and recklessly driven. One noisy Uber driver argued on the phone all through our ride and then turned to me to ask if it's okay to store a salt shaker in the family's brand new, first refrigerator. The rides certainly don't feel like the frictionless and futuristic promise that the gig economy once proffered. It wasn't always like this. For years, Uber and its rival Ola competed to grow in newer cities and added thousands of drivers. The longer the driver stayed on the app and more rides he offered, the bigger the incentive. Now the cash sweeteners are shrinking, drivers are fleeing and the ones who remain are demotivated. Uber is continually choking off incentives as it applies a tourniquet to its global cash bleed -- a requisite for SoftBank-backed companies in the wake of the infamous WeWork fiasco of last year. As Uber chases profitability as early as 2021, those in India who got used to the convenience of summoning a cheap and easy ride are experiencing a rude awakening. In Mumbai, people are opting to ride the ramshackle black-and-yellow cabs again. In Bangalore, many are jumping into noisy old auto-rickshaws, the rickety three-wheelers that were a reliable ride until Uber and Ola came along.
Me? In my braver moments, I actually consider getting on a bicycle and battling hazardous traffic, just like my school days. | 
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