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Uber’s New Rival in Australia: An Indian Upstart

nytimes.com

31–40 of 71 posts

Re: Uber’s New Rival in Australia: An Indian Upstart

#31
post #4

Australians get ready for questions/requests like a. Can you please cancel OLA ride and book a ride on Uber or vice versa? #incentives #UberOLATwosome b. Cash or OLA Money?

They'll struggle to get anywhere asking for cash. Australians generally carry little to no cash around

I think your parent poster was stposting. I doubt Ola will allow cash payments in Aus. In India lot of people carry cash hence they allow cash payments from what I've heard.

Re: Uber’s New Rival in Australia: An Indian Upstart

#32
post #14

In case, like me, you're unfamiliar with the term "Upstart" in this context. I found a few vague definitions that boil down to: Startups are entrepreneurial businesses that start with external funding. Upstarts are businesses that start without significant external funding.

Doesn't "upstart" have a slightly negative connotation?

Not particularly. Most would interpret it here as "plucky". Small player tackling bigger players, having to work a bit harder and smarter, etc.

Re: Uber’s New Rival in Australia: An Indian Upstart

#33
post #4

Australians get ready for questions/requests like a. Can you please cancel OLA ride and book a ride on Uber or vice versa? #incentives #UberOLATwosome b. Cash or OLA Money?

They'll struggle to get anywhere asking for cash. Australians generally carry little to no cash around

I think that's just you. Most people I know still pay for anything small (like lunch or a taxi) in cash.

I've been using it more lately because it's the only payment form with any type of anonymity.

Re: Uber’s New Rival in Australia: An Indian Upstart

#34
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They'll struggle to get anywhere asking for cash. Australians generally carry little to no cash around

I haven't carried cash or wallet for about a year now. All I use is my phone (CommBank app, which uses PayPass network). Whether it's a coffee, snack for my kid, weekly shopping or a night out, I can barely even remember the times I've been caught out. Maybe twice in a year. Only times I take my wallet out the door is if I'm driving (I live in Melbourne and mostly walk or take trams) or going to the Doctors or someth…

Out of curiosity, where do you keep your myki? It's the one thing that ties me to carrying around a thing that can hold my cards.

I don't carry cash, and quite often don't even carry my wallet, but I need somewhere to stash my myki if I'm taking the train & tram to work. Given that it may have anywhere between $100 and $1500 worth of value on it at a time, I don't really just want to throw it in a pocket.

Re: Uber’s New Rival in Australia: An Indian Upstart

#35
post #5

Ola has been a pretty interesting company. They have tried a lot of things like integrating auto ricks into their network (which Uber has copied now), including Wifi, on board entertainment, pool pass, membership rates etc. They even had boat service when Chennai (my city) was flooded. I wish them good luck!

In India, Ola also seems to have nicer car models than Uber, at least at the cheapest price point without sharing your ride with a stranger. Coupled with the wi-fi and the entertainment system (to put on whatever of the limited Apple Music set you choose) made most of my friends in Bangalore prefer it.

Ola also always more expensive than Uber when I was in India for a few weeks. And another anecdotal feedback is all of my friends felt Uber had better crop of drivers and service than Ola.

Re: Uber’s New Rival in Australia: An Indian Upstart

#36
post #32
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't "upstart" have a slightly negative connotation?

Not particularly. Most would interpret it here as "plucky". Small player tackling bigger players, having to work a bit harder and smarter, etc.

Interesting. I thought this word is often used by incumbents to look down at the newcomer. English is not my first language so it's good to learn these subtleties.

Re: Uber’s New Rival in Australia: An Indian Upstart

#37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say those businesses will have to evolve or die out. There is a great Japanese place in our town that I stopped frequenting purely because they didn't have an EFTPOS machine, and I often have to cash on me when returning from a customer visit etc. and I wanted a snack to bring home. Since they (finally) installed one after new owners took over, I go back there frequently now. With PayWave becoming so popular for…

When they say “cash only” everyone seems to understand it means “we dodge our taxes”. But the food is usually pretty cheap. I’d say they probably won’t evolve unless they start getting prosecuted for tax avoidance...

I totally understand the undercurrent of the 'cash only' operators - but I think that there will always be a portion of your customers who will use cash (travelling tourists etc.) as well as a large chunk who will want to use some form of electronic payment.

Far better for a business IMO to offer both - then they can still pocket most of the cash transactions without declaring, yet still show legitimacy to the ATO by having electronic payment records, which should keep the auditors at bay.

Our town is popular for market and pop up stalls all over the place, and while these used to be cash only for nearly as long as I have lived here, I have been noticing that a lot of them now have portable EFTPOS machines, or smartphones connected to Square or other payment swipers. Especially those that sell clothing or items >$20 because locals just don't seem to carry large notes around any more on a casual basis.

Re: Uber’s New Rival in Australia: An Indian Upstart

#38
post #36
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not particularly. Most would interpret it here as "plucky". Small player tackling bigger players, having to work a bit harder and smarter, etc.

Interesting. I thought this word is often used by incumbents to look down at the newcomer. English is not my first language so it's good to learn these subtleties.

To me it does come off as vaguely negative - in context, perhaps hinting at skepticism of whether the company will succeed in overtaking Uber. But if so, only mildly; the word definitely has its positive connotations too.

Re: Uber’s New Rival in Australia: An Indian Upstart

#39
post #36
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not particularly. Most would interpret it here as "plucky". Small player tackling bigger players, having to work a bit harder and smarter, etc.

Interesting. I thought this word is often used by incumbents to look down at the newcomer. English is not my first language so it's good to learn these subtleties.

When I think "upstart", I think of my grade 9 English teacher who once described a fairly naughty student as "you young whipper-snapper!".

Re: Uber’s New Rival in Australia: An Indian Upstart

#40
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They'll struggle to get anywhere asking for cash. Australians generally carry little to no cash around

Really? As someone who has spent a long time in New Zealand it was striking to me how many places you needed cash for in Australia. EFTPOS is not ubiquitous there like it is here.

I would hazard a guess you could make 99.5% of transactions with EFTPOS in NZ - the exceptions might be a few vendors at farmers markets (most take EFTPOS), sausage sizzles/ad-hoc fundraisers, fruit honesty boxes on the side of the road, etc. Maybe only 85% would take credit/debit, though.

From my experience in sydney/melbourne more places take credit/debit than NZ but also more places are cash only. Not as much penetration for EFTPOS.

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