आज की बात

मौसम ऐसा है के दिल को ललचाय 

पर कोरोना का डर भी है जो दिल को घबराए 

दोस्तों के साथ मिलने का मन तो बहुत करता है 

पर घर मैं क़ैद से बैठे बच्चों को देख कर मन अपने आप शांत हो जाता है 

यह वक़्त भी गुझर जायेगा कहते है संत और फ़क़ीर 

पर वक़्त फिलहाल थम सा गया कहती है सब की तक़दीर 

ले रहा है कठिन परीक्षा अपनी ओह भगवान 

पर विश्वास है रास्ता भी वही दिखाएगा अपने मुरली मोहन

अमित शाह

#kavita #lockdown #friends #family #children #corona #god #murali #mohan

My Recent Experience with Uber in Mumbai

I booked #Uber from #Mumbai #Airport for my brother at Terminal T2. Now that there is a specific zone for pickup at T2, it has become easier to book Uber / Ola after arrival. As part of the arrangement, Ola / Uber driver has to pay Rs 100/- before taking the exit to #MIAL and this amount then gets added in the trip.

The upfront fare showed Rs. 453/- and we went ahead with the booking for #UberGo. When I received the trip summary, I noticed that instead of Rs 100/- to be charged for the airport pick up, we were charged Rs. 160/-. Hence, I again checked with brother if they took the sea link during the journey. Since it was 4.45 am in the morning, my brother did not feel the need to take the sea link and he came by the normal road. I also checked the actual invoice by logging into my a/c on the uber website. It also did not give any details.

Hence, I sent a mail to Uber Support asking for the clarification of these Rs.60/- charged to us. (its another issue that you will not get any standard issue preset by Uber to seek such information. None of the options cater to such an aspect).

The reply I got from Uber was that Uber now works with #UpfrontPricing wherein the base fare, time, distance, dynamic pricing based on demand, applicable tolls and surcharges are pre-calculated. In this case, as long as the pick up and drop off points are the same as when requested, you will be charged the Upfront price, no more, no less! That being the reason, we do not facilitate the provision of a fare breakdown.

Since, I was not convinced I asked for this specific aspect to be clarified. I even informed Uber that we had not taken Sea Link and hence toll for the same if charged should be refunded back to us. But again I just get standard reply - The fare amount is shown upfront so you know what you have to pay before confirming a ride. It is displayed at the beginning of the trip and holds as long as destination remains unchanged and the suggested route is followed.

The fare considers duration, distance, high demand in the area, tolls, and local conditions (traffic, road blocks). It also includes service tax payable to the government. Since the upfront fare is system generated, the breakdown of the same is not accessible.

This to and fro happened a few times and finally as last resort I decided to have take this to the Grievance Officer at Uber. Uber India does have a Grievance Officer whose email id is mentioned on the website and hence I wrote to him sharing the chain mails with summary of the issue. To my utter shock, this is the reply I received – “ You’ve contacted an address that does not accept incoming email.”

Why would some company share email id of the Grievance Officer on its website if the email id does not accept incoming email in the first place.

Left with no other option, I posted this state of affairs on #UberIndia #FaceBook page. Here again the first things mentioned was this post would be reviewed before being posted on the their page. Finally, it was posted and the reply I received was to contact uber through the website.

So I again sent the summary of the whole issue on the link provided now through FB.

To my surprise I got the reply in less than 30 minutes that the trip was reviewed and there was an error in the fare as route did not pass through toll and my uber account was credited with Rs. 160/-

I realized that Rs. 100/- was towards airport charges which were genuine and asked the same to be taken back. But Uber is yet to revert on the same.

I am still wondering what happened that when I followed the #SOP, I did not get satisfactory resolution of the issue and what had brought the sudden change in heart at Uber that they refunded MIAL charges as well.

Also, not sure now if Grievance Officer mail id does accept incoming mail. Probably I will explore that some other day

So what do you learn from this aspect:

• Check the trip fare and the invoice if you see any anomaly in the amount charged
• Write to the support and keep writing back till you don’t get any satisfactory reply
• Write to grievance officer as next step
• Use social media to highlight the issue

Today this happened for Uber. Tomorrow it might happen for Ola / or for that matter with PayTM / freecharge or any other service we use these days.

Power Sector Woes in India....

recently CERC in disposin petition filed by adani against guvnl / n other haryana state power entities, has in principle agreed to raise power prices

I too agree power at high prices is better than no power…let consumers decide if they want power at high prices or they are okie with no power

But let us also look at the precedents we are setting…

Govt invites cos to set up up UMPP giving them options 2 chose their sources of coal…at no point does govt say we want coal from this country  and we want power at this price…what govt simply says these are the facilities available in terms of land, clearances etc…u choose d technology, eqpt n also quote d price at which u wanna supply power for 25 yrs…fair enuf !!!

Govt invites cos to supply power for a particular period...it gives options to power cos to determine d price n also if the price will b fixed or variable...

Co takes some assumptions n ties up coal from some other country XYZ…n goes ahead n bids at fixed price n wins d contract....however there was some change in regulation in tht country XYZ resulting into increase in coal prices n hence d Co comes back to Govt citing force majeure, change in law etc n asking for revision in power tariff

Coal Mining

Another co borrows huge money from foreign entities at INR 40…with INR touching 60, it too comes back saying the interest costs / equipment costs have increased….pls help us by raising prices…but do we tell that there were sufficient financial products available in the market to hedge or for tht matter y u went to borrow outside when we have DFI ready to give INR loans….

In the interest of supplying power though at higher price, govt agrees to this price revision

From a consumer perspective, what their fault…they had agreed to buy power at the price initially quoted by the power co in first place…

why does the govt not penalize the power co…let them also take a hit in terms of lower profits from what was initially envisaged…if they had quoted prices with 10% IRR, let them now work at 5% IRR…

If such thing wud have happened in a pvt co, we wud talk abt exploring options to reduce expenses…let them rationalize manpower expenses, logistic expenses or for tht matter interest expenses…

We have seen in the past how CAG rapped a pvt co for inflating drilling expenses…how does govt ensure that there is no gold plating in coal expenses…Are the transactions truly at arm’s length between coal supplying co n power co ??

By agreeing to revise prices, what is the sanctity of market determined price and a legally binding contract between parties (in this case one being a govt entity). A co will aggressively bid for order, start work, halt it at later date, come back to govt for revision n happily go back with revised price…

Today it has happened in power..tomorrow it cud b ports, roads…

I m sure that this will b tested in the courts of India n we will hear more abt this soon

a movie bluff's feedback on Don 2...

 almost close 2 a week since Don 2 was released n most wud have seen d movie or at least read the reviews of d movie

i dont wanna comment abt d plot or try to rip d movie apart on d flaws....there r others who r better at this than me

but i felt most missed a very important feedback / comment on d movie which none have thought off...

d movie did not feel like a Don movie....it cud have easily passed off Dhoom 3....ya jus think abt it

there's a guy is planning for a hi profile robbery....he prepares a team to pull it off.....2 add 2 glamour there's a baby doll who works with d guy.....u have a cop who is after d guy n wants 2 know what he is plannin next

n tht's wht Dhoom series is all abt na.....

where did d "Don.." come into d picture.....when u say Don....he does not dirty his hands trying to pull off heists......he jus gives orders n its for d team 2 get d thing done for him.....he has 2 b cunning.....he is happy with d booty n wud never go back again n tht too 2 help a cop even if its a lady....a Don wud damn care for his immunity..n how wud he say d dialogue "Don ke peeche pure duniya ki police hai now !!!" don is surrounded by ppl n his croonies.....idhar koi tha hi nahi....this part felt like a Solo movie....

SRK looked mast...jungli billi was also matching him in acting skills...few stunts like d car chase were hollywood types.....

overall i think worth a one time watch....

What d common man wants...

almost a year since i blogged...part of d blame goes 2 myself for being lazy n part also since its easier to twit than to write a blog...so here to my 1st n d last blog for 2011...

me aint n expert at a subject like lokpal...but with all d hullabaloo over it sometime back n again yesterday's turn of events within our Parliament made me ponder...

what it is tht d common man wants.....he wants his basic needs to b met - roti / kapda / makaan....add education / medical  n think he wud b more than happy if in d current system he has enuf opportunities to meet these needs

unfortunately with d state of affairs in India, corruption has engulfed d whole system...n for each n everything someone has to b greased....

part of d blame lies with us also for letting d system flourish without protesting...someone will counter - how can we change d system n looking at our reqts - we wanna get things done faster / bypass d normal process / regularize stuff etc etc...so we r also happy with it

d current legal system has failed miserably- read in paper tht a railway's minister murder was being heard for last 38 yrs....

hence there is need for something where d common man can go for raising his grievances.....frankly he is fine if its lok pal / joke pal / existing legal system or anything else where things r solved n solved promptly !!! ppl shud have respect 4 d system n also at d same time there shud b enuf fear in those ppl who wanna break d system....they shud know tht if they get caught, they will b punished swiftly

n trust me we have no problems as far funding to create such a system....we have spent 4.45L crs in last decade on Defense..n v still have Kargils / 26.11 n no of terrorist attacks....

every year we r spending 2L crs + on schemes like NREGA / procurement n storage of food grain (even if if storage is inadequate such tht it get rotten...) / fuel like petrol / diesel etc...tell me why shud diesel b subsidized for fuel guzzler cars like Merc / fortuners or for tht matter even Swift Desires n Indicas...if u can afford a car u aint poor n u have 2 pay for its fuel......

point what i wanna make is we need have a will to change d way things r being dealt in our country for good of d ppl....

if parliament can do on its own...gr8...

if they cant n ppl like Team Anna can arm twist them for this end goal tht also shud b fine too...

ending on this note n lookin fwd to 2012 wit abated breath for a better "India..."
 

Jus another Holiday - 15th Aug...

63 yrs of independence......but guess for most amongst us its one of d 3 holidays where all have n off day (other being 26th jan n 2nd oct) n this year wit it being a sunday ppl have a reason to feel dejected for missing out an holiday

hardly we give any importance to this day other than for d grand shopping deals tht r not marketed around 15th aug

we did study a bit of history....incidents like jalianwalla baug still send a chill down our spine....or d march to a salt factory where row after row of indians were hit by d police but none of those ppl hit back....jus kept facing d bows till police got tired

all tht was studied long back n no one remembers it in daily life...u only remember these moments whilst seeing patriotic movies like “Gandhi” on 15th aug / 26th jan....

think part of d reason is we were born in an independent india n do not understand...what really independence means...what all sacrifices have gone to get this independence...we dont have to worry abt our actions or worry abt any one stopping us from doin anything.....we dont know whats its like being slaves....or being asked to do things n hundred other things tht should not b done….

so whilst we all njoy independence...spare a moment for all those n number of ppl who lost their lives…who never got mention in any history book...

happy independence day….

26/11 - In Memory of those who lost their lives !!!

aye dushman..kar le koshish aur ek baar,

train main bomb laga kar ya station par goliyaan ki bauchar kar..

galtiyaan ki humne fir wahi,

aur kho diye janbaaz sipahi aur bebas insaan..

dharam ke naam par nahi ladenge hum,

nahi denge hone kamiyab aapke napak iradon ko hum..

aap ke ghar main ghus kar jawab hum bhi de sakte hai,

par nahi ghirna humme aap jaise..

waqt jaya nahi kar sakte aap se lad kar,

bahut kuch karna hai hume apne logon ke liye fakar se sar utha kar ..

jai hind !!!!