CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION

1
UBER

Uber Technologies Inc. is an American multinational online transportation network

company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It develops markets and operates
the Uber mobile "app", which allows consumers with smartphones to submit a trip
request, which the software program then automatically sends to the Uber driver nearest
to the consumer, alerting the driver to the location of the customer. Uber drivers use
their own personal cars. As of August 2016, the service was available in over 66
countries and 507 cities worldwide. The Uber app automatically calculates the fare and
transfers the payment to the driver. Since Uber's launch, several other companies have
replicated its business model, a trend that has come to be referred to as "Uberification".

The legality of Uber has been challenged by governments and taxi companies, who
allege that its use of drivers who are not licensed to drive taxicabs is unsafe and illegal;
some taxi driver unions have called Uber drivers "pirate taxis".

2
Five years ago, a company called UberCab made a splash in San Francisco by letting
you hail a car with your smartphone. Since then, the company, now known as Uber, has
spread like wildfire through the globe. Uber currently operates in 58 countries and is
valued at over $60 billion.

But the road hasn't been easy.

Uber has fought rivals and regulators as it has transformed from a black-car service into
a sprawling logistics company gunning for a future of self-driving cars. It has
confronted threats from the taxi industry and even its own drivers.

But its valuation has continued to climb, and it has attracted more and more investors.

As Uber continues its battle in China, where is just became officially legal, we look
back at how the company got to where it is today. See the insane and successful journey
of Uber and its CEO, Travis Kalanick, as it has moved from an idea to a worldwide
phenomenon.

Uber officially launched in India in October 2013. Currently, the company is operating
in 6 cities - New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune. It is
planning to launch service in Ahmedabad and Kolkata.
The concept is gaining lots of popularity around the world. It is posing real challenge to
traditional taxi market. Uber is getting popular in India. Uber was founded as UberCab by
Garrett Camp, the founder of StumbleUpon, and Travis Kalanick in 2009. The company
received $200,000 in seed funding that same year. In 2010, Uber raised $1.25 million in
additional funding.

3
Following a beta launch in the summer of 2010, Uber's services and mobile app
officially launched in San Francisco in 2011. Initially, Ryan Graves was appointed as
CEO however, Kalanick replaced him in the role later that year. Graves stepped down
to become the company's COO.

By the end of 2011, Uber had raised $44.5 million in funding. That year, the company
changed its name from UberCab to Uber. The name "Uber" is a reference to the
common (and somewhat slangy) word "uber", meaning "super", and having its origins
in the German word über

During the initial development of the Uber app, the company created a think tank
consisting of a nuclear physicist, a computational neuroscientist, and a machinery expert
who worked on predicting demand for private hire car drivers and where demand is
highest. Later in 2012,

Uber launched its Uber Garage initiative in Chicago. The experimental program
allowed Uber to partner with local taxi cab drivers, alerting them when an app user
requested a ride. The company also introduced uberX in 2012, a service option which
allows local drivers to respond to notifications on the Uber app by driving customers in
their own non-luxury cars. During 2013, Uber offered its first non-car option when it
launched UBERChopper rides from New York City to the Hamptons for $3000 each.

In August 2014, Uber launched UberPOOL, a carpooling service, in San Francisco and
UberFRESH, a lunch delivery service, in Santa Monica. In 2015 Uber CEO Travis
Kalanick spoke about his desire to eventually move to using self-driving cars for Uber
vehicles. By May 2015 the company had hired a large number of Carnegie Mellon
University researchers from the vehicle autonomy department to work at Uber's
Advanced Technologies Centre in Pittsburgh. In August 2016 the company announced
it would roll out the service on a pilot basis in the city by September 2016 using
modified Ford Fusion vehicles with a support driver.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

4
OBJECTIVES:

 To study the satisfaction among the consumers for uber cabs.

 To study and analyze various factors influence the consumers to use the services
provided by uber cabs.
 To analyze the factors influencing perception and decision of consumers.
 To find out the effectiveness of services of UBER CABS.

Research Methodology

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Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. Once can also define
research as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific
topic. In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation. The Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary of Current English lays down the meaning of research as “a careful
investigation or inquiry especially through search for new facts in any branch of
knowledge.” Redman and Mory define research as a “systematized effort to gain new
knowledge.” Some people consider research as a movement, a movement from the
known to the unknown. It is actually a voyage of discovery.

We all possess the vital instinct of inquisitiveness for, when the unknown confronts us,
we wonder and our inquisitiveness makes us probe and attain full and fuller
understanding of the unknown. This inquisitiveness is the mother of all knowledge and
the method, which man employs for obtaining the knowledge of whatever the unknown,
can be termed as research. Research is an academic activity and as such the term should
be used in a technical sense.

According to Clifford Woody research comprises defining and redefining problems,

formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions; collecting, organising and evaluating
data; making deductions and reaching conclusions; and at last carefully testing the
conclusions to determine whether they fit the formulating hypothesis. D. Slesinger and
M. Stephenson in the Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences define research as “the
manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of generalising to extend,
correct or verify knowledge, whether that knowledge aids in construction of theory or in
the practice of an art.” Research is, thus, an original contribution to the existing stock of
knowledge making for its advancement. It is the pursuit of truth with the help of study,
observation, comparison and experiment. In short, the search for knowledge through
objective and systematic method of finding solution to a problem is research.

The systematic approach concerning generalisation and the formulation of a theory is

also research. As such the term ‘research’ refers to the systematic method consisting of
enunciating the problem, formulating a hypothesis, collecting the facts or data,
analysing the facts and reaching certain conclusions either in the form of solutions(s)

6
towards the concerned problem or in certain generalisations for some theoretical
formulation.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The project aims on understanding customer satisfaction of a study on customer

satisfaction of Uber Cabs. The project helps us to know how much powerful the brand

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name of UBER that compel the consumer to consume the services of this brand only.
This project may be useful to:-

 RESEARCHERS

 .STUDENTS

 OTHER INTRESTED PARTIES 

RESEARCH DESIGN
Research design is defined as the specification of methods and procedures for accruing
the information needed. It is a plan of organization frame for doing the collection of
data. Data which is required for the study is collected from both the primary and
secondary source . Primary data was collected through survey method by distributing
questionnaires to employees. . As UBER has a large number of employees out of them
sample size has been taken as 100 with the help of Convenience sampling method.

DATA COLLECTION
Primary Data :-

Primary data was collected through survey method by distributing questionnaires to

employees. The questionnaires were carefully designed by taking into account the
parameters of my study.

Secondary Data :-

Data was collected from web sites, going through the records of the organisation, etc. It
is the data which has been collected by individual or someone else for the purpose of
other than those of our particular research study. Or in other words we can say that
secondary data is the data used previously for the analysis and the results are undertaken
for the next process.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

1. The geographical scope of the study is limited to East Delhi.

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2. The sample size is confined to 100.

3. The consumer’s attitude may change in future due to change in their standard of

living.

4. The Respondents were sometimes unable to spend much time for filling up the,

questionnaire. So, the chances for bias in the respondents answer were on the higher
side.

5. The responses of the consumers may not be genuine.

6. The questions included in the questionnaire may not be comprehensive.

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 CHAPTER -2

COMPANY PROFILE

Uber Technologies Inc. is an American multinational online transportation network

company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It develops markets and operates
the Uber mobile "app", which allows consumers with smartphones to submit a trip
request, which the software program then automatically sends to the Uber driver nearest
to the consumer, alerting the driver to the location of the customer. Uber drivers use
their own personal cars. As of August 2016, the service was available in over 66
10
countries and 507 cities worldwide. The Uber app automatically calculates the fare and
transfers the payment to the driver. Since Uber's launch, several other companies have
replicated its business model, a trend that has come to be referred to as "Uberification".
The legality of Uber has been challenged by governments and taxi companies, who
allege that its use of drivers who are not licensed to drive taxicabs is unsafe and illegal;
some taxi driver unions have called Uber drivers "pirate taxis".

Opposition

As Uber grew internationally, it also began to experience disputes with governments

and taxi companies in those regions. In April 2014, Uber was banned by the
government in Berlin, although the company remains active in other German cities. The
ban is still being discussed as of December 2014. Taxi drivers in London, Berlin, Paris
and Madrid staged a large-scale protest against Uber on June 11, 2014. In March 2015,
UberPOOL was offered in Austin, Texas, in anticipation of the South by Southwest
festival. As of May 2016, Uber has pulled their Austin program, due to stricter
regulations from the government.

Self-driving car research

Also in February 2015, Uber announced a collaboration with Carnegie Mellon to

establish the Uber Advanced Technologies Center, a new facility in Pittsburgh meant to
support research in the development of self-driving vehicles. Uber announced the first
customer trial of autonomous taxis which was to take place by the end of August 2016
in Pittsburgh, but was overtaken by nuTonomy, which launched the first public trial of
electric self-driving cabs in Singapore on 25 August.

Uber launched its first self-driving car services to select customers in Pittsburgh,
including Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, on September 14, 2016. Uber has a fleet of
Ford Fusion cars each equipped with 20 cameras, seven lasers and GPS and radar
equipment. These enable the car to create a three-dimensional map utilising landmarks
and other contextual information to keep track of its position. They have established an

11
'Advanced Technology Center' to develop this technology in the Strip District,
Pittsburgh.

Partnerships

In May 2015, Uber launched its UberMilitary Families Coalition, a new project to
support its existing UberMilitary initiative. The project seeks to partner Uber with
existing military family organizations and hire more military dependents, in addition to
veterans, as drivers. In May 2015, Uber updated its app to include accommodations for
drivers who are deaf or hard of hearing.

In 2015 and 2016, Uber launched partnerships with several transit agencies to
encourage trips that connect the first or last mile to public transit. These agencies
included SEPTA, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, Los Angeles County
Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, and Pinellas
Suncoast Transit Authority.

Helicopter service

Also in 2016, the company partnered with Airbus to test an Uber service with
helicopters in São Paulo, a city famous for its extreme traffic congestion and for having
the largest helicopter fleet of any city in the world. The test, which lasted for one month,
was Uber's first helicopter service that was not limited to specific events. Uber has
offered helicopter service at the Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals. In September
2016 Uber has announced that it's researching the possibility of developing small planes
capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL), so they can be used for short-haul
flights in cities.

Mapping UK city streets

In September 2016 Uber began mapping UK city streets in an effort to identify the best
pick-up and drop-off points. The lift-sharing firm plans to extend its mapping activities
to other British cities including Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds.

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Uberisation

The rise of companies like Uber and GrabCar, and the changes they catalysed have
started a discussion over the general transition to peer to peer transactions across
industries. The parallel rise of platforms such as Netflix, Apple TV, and AirBnB in
other industries has led to comparisons with the rise of Uber and debate over whether
and to what extent uberisation may displace traditional business models.

Software and services

The Uber app software requires the users and drivers to have a smartphone.

Pricing and payments

Uber's pricing is similar to that of metered taxis, although all hiring and payment is
handled exclusively through the Uber app and not with the driver personally. In some
cities, if the Uber car is travelling at a speed greater than 11 mph (18 km/h), the price is
calculated on a distance basis; otherwise, the price is calculated on a time basis. At the
end of a ride, the complete fare is automatically billed to the customer's credit card.
Uber has said its prices are the premium that the customers pay for a cab service that is
not only reliable, but also punctual and comfortable. In April 2016 Uber began allowing
drivers to place signs in their windows stating that they can accept tips.

In May 2015, Uber started testing cash payments in India. The pilot project was started
in the Indian city of Hyderabad. In September 2015, Uber tied up with Airtel India to
allow cab users to pay using Airtel mobile wallet service. It also allows users to use
Airtel 4G data at no charges.

Surge pricing

Uber uses an automated algorithm to increase prices to "surge" price levels, responding
rapidly to changes of supply and demand in the market, and to attract more drivers
during times of increased rider demand, but also to reduce demand. Customers receive

13
notice when making an Uber reservation that prices have increased. The company
applied for a U.S. patent on surge pricing in 2013, but it was rejected for being obvious.

The practice has often caused passengers to become upset and invited criticism when it
has happened as a result of holidays, inclement weather, or natural disasters. During
New Year's Eve 2011, prices were as high as seven times normal rates, causing outrage.
During the 2014 Sydney hostage crisis, Uber implemented surge pricing, resulting in
fares of up to four times normal charges; while it defended the surge pricing at first, it
later apologized and refunded the surcharges. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has responded
to criticism by saying: "...because this is so new, it's going to take some time for folks to
accept it. There's 70 years of conditioning around the fixed price of taxis." Uber
released a post detailing why surge pricing is in place and how it works. They
emphasized that without surge pricing, Uber would not have its trademark service of
pushing a button and getting a ride in minutes. This is detailed in a case study around a
sold-out-concert at Madison Square Garden when surge pricing took effect. During this
event, the number of people who opened the app increased 4x, but the actual ride
requests only rose slightly, enabling ride requests to be completed with the usual ETAs.

Surge pricing makes supply and demand match so efficiently that the waiting time is
almost always below five minutes, regardless of the circumstances. Surge pricing
increases economic efficiency in two ways: 1. rising prices motivate more drivers to
start driving, 2. when there are not enough drivers for everyone, the rising prices make
only those customers accept a ride whose needs are highest. When a surge in demand in
the New Year's Eve did not raise prices, due to a fault in technology, fewer drivers
chose to start driving and fewer customers chose alternative transportation methods.
Therefore, waiting times became long and just a few lucky customers got a car, most
were left without. In terms of efficiency the situation was a failure. Many airline and
hotel companies also price dynamically although this is often not clear, whereas Uber
makes its pricing transparent.

Rating score

Users of the app may rate drivers; in turn, drivers may rate users. A low rating might
diminish the availability and convenience of the service to the user

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Development history

During the initial development of the Uber app, the company created a think tank
consisting of a nuclear physicist, a computational neuroscientist, and a machinery expert
who worked on predicting demand for private hire car drivers and where demand is
highest. Later in 2012, Uber launched its Uber Garage initiative in Chicago. The
experimental program allowed Uber to partner with local taxi cab drivers, alerting them
when an app user requested a ride. The company also introduced uberX in 2012, a
service option which allows local drivers to respond to notifications on the Uber app by
driving customers in their own non-luxury cars. During 2013, Uber offered its first non-
car option when it launched UBERChopper rides from New York City to the Hamptons
for $3000 each.

In August 2014, Uber launched UberPOOL, a carpooling service, in San Francisco and
UberFRESH, a lunch delivery service, in Santa Monica. In 2015 Uber CEO Travis
Kalanick spoke about his desire to eventually move to using self-driving cars for Uber
vehicles. By May 2015 the company had hired a large number of Carnegie Mellon
University researchers from the vehicle autonomy department to work at Uber's
Advanced Technologies Centre in Pittsburgh. In August 2016 the company announced
it would roll out the service on a pilot basis in the city by September 2016 using
modified Ford Fusion vehicles with a support driver

Product expansion

In 2014, the company experimented with online food orders, pilot testing uberFRESH
in Santa Monica, California. In April 2014, Uber announced a courier package delivery
service called Uber Rush, with pickup from anywhere in Manhattan. While Rush only
offers delivery, the Uber Essentials or Corner Store service, starting testing in
Washington D.C. in August 2014, allows online ordering from a list of about 100 items.
In April 2012, Uber launched the Uber Garage initiative, a project to experiment with
other ideas for urban transportation services. The first project from Uber Garage was to
give Uber users the option to hire a regular taxi driver, or a crowd-sourced Uber driver.

The startup announced a new carpooling service called UberPool at the start of August
2014, after a beta testing phase in the San Francisco Bay Area. UberPool matches riders

15
with another rider who is traveling in the same direction—the app will share the first
name of the other rider and who is getting picked up first. If a match cannot be found,
riders are offered a discount on a regular Uber trip. In December 2014, Uber expanded
the UberPool concept to New York City. The Uber blog announcement offered riders
the possibility of reducing their journey costs by 20 to 50 percent, explaining: "On any
given day, the vast majority of UberX trips in NYC have a 'lookalike' trip—a trip that
starts near, ends near, and is happening around the same time as another trip".

In June 2015, in Istanbul, Uber launched a water-taxi service called UberBOAT,

allowing users to travel by Beneteau boats across the city’s central Bosporus strait. In
November 2015 Uber signed a global partnership deal with Dutch satellite navigation
company TomTom to provide maps and traffic data for the Uber driver app across 300
cities. In June 2016, with an eye toward expansion in the Middle East, Uber received
3.5 billion dollars from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

Requirements for driving

In some markets, where leasing arrangements for vehicles are available, the only
requirement for driving for Uber, other than appropriate age, health, and ability to drive,
is passing a background check. Both a smartphone, called a "device" by Uber, and a
vehicle may be leased. Legislation in some cities (such as San Francisco) requires
individuals who drive for Uber to also own a business license in the city in which they
drive. As stated above, Uber is a mobile app company and therefore does not employ
drivers. As a result, Uber drivers are considered independent contractors and in need of
a valid business license. Some analysts predict that the trend is likely to expand across
the United States. There are companies that specialize in business license compliance
specifically for Uber drivers.

As of September 23, Uber requires drivers to take selfies before accepting ride requests.
The feature is called "Real-Time ID Check" and is meant to prevent fraud and protect
drivers' accounts from being compromised.

16
Marketing

Uber, led by David Plouffe, an experienced political operative, expands its operations
though commencing operation, then engaging in a political campaign which mobilizes
public support for the service. If, as is usually the case, its mode of doing business does
not conform to local regulations, Uber, supported by a small army of lobbyists, mounts
a campaign to change them. Customers and potential customers are mobilized through
social media including using the Uber app itself. Bradley Tusk, a former campaign
manager for Michael Bloomberg, has played a significant role in advising Uber with
respect to cities. In July 2012, in honour of National Ice Cream Month, Uber launched
an "Uber Ice Cream" program in the U.S. so that users in seven cities could summon an
ice cream truck for on-demand delivery, while purchases were billed to users' accounts.

In July 2014, Uber partnered with Blade to offer "UberCHOPPER" helicopter rides
from New York City to the Hamptons for US$3,000, including availability during the
July 4 holiday weekend.

Short-term promotions in the second half of 2013 included: the September hire of ice-
cream trucks to deliver ice cream; rides in the DeLorean DMC-12 car from the Back to
the Future film franchise, that were also launched in September; an October National
Cat Day promotion for which Uber drivers delivered kittens; and a Christmas-tree
delivery service.

In March 2015, Uber offered luxury car-rental service in collaboration with Dream
Drive in Singapore until 20 May 2015. In November 2015, Uber offered Hot air balloon
rides to customers in Hyderabad, India for INR 1,000 in collaboration with GrabOn. On
September 4, 2013, Uber announced its first sports deal. The company held a promotion
with the NFL Players Association to promote safe rides for NFL players.

In January 2015, Uber announced a marketing program Kalanick called "principled

confrontation" that included reaching compromises with local municipalities to
compromise on new tax regulations. Since implementing this program, Uber has seen
17 new cities pass pro-Uber ordinances. Uber had worked out an arrangement with the
city of Boston to share quarterly data on the duration, locations, and times of day in
which riders used the app to travel in or out of the city. This information was first

17
delivered to the city in February 2015, and the report kept all individual user data
private. On March 10, 2015, Travis Kalanick, Uber’s founder and chief executive
announced a partnership between Uber and the UN Women. They had intended to
invest in local communities where the UN Women’s group was located hoping to create
1,000,000 jobs for women globally by 2020. However, after pressure from trade unions
and women's rights organizations, UN Women declined to participate, citing Uber's
legal status, safety, and privacy concerns.

In September 2016, Uber and Bobbi Brown Cosmetics made a partnetship for Bobbi
Brown x Uber Retouch campaign, to celebrate the launch of the Retouching Wands and
Retouching Pencils. Customers will get an opportunity to take a ride with a Bobbi
Brown Makeup Artist and quick make up course how to retouch make up on-the-go.

Benefits

Uber gives consumers a choice between regulated taxi cab companies and other forms
of transportation, and can potentially provide drivers with "flexible and independent
jobs". Users can track the car picking them up on their smartphone, which allows them
to know when it will arrive. A receipt will be automatically sent via email.

As Uber does not require cars to be hailed, its drivers can more easily pick up customers
in less built up neighbourhoods. For this reason, Bloomberg Review said that Uber helps
the poor by making it easier for them to get a taxi. It also helps reduce congestion as,
"because Ubers can’t accept street hails, they do much less unnecessary driving-around
than either yellow cabs (who are cruising for hails) or individuals (who are looking for a
parking spot)."

This assumes that there is no extra traffic created by people who would otherwise have
used public transport or walked. One study showed that having Uber in a city reduced
drunk driving rates; however, a new study by the Washington Post refutes this claim.

A study by Judd Cramer and Alan B. Krueger showed that an Uber ride uses capacity
more efficiently than traditional taxis. In terms of both working time and miles driven, a
larger share is spent with a customer in the car. The reasons for this are:

1. Uber's technology matches its passengers and drivers efficiently

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 2. larger scale
3. inefficiencies caused by taxi regulation
4. Uber's efficient labour model
5. surge pricing adds efficiency to the matching between drivers and passengers

Competitive effects

Uber and other ride-sharing companies brought increased competition to the taxi
industry. One result has been a decline in the value of the limited-issue taxi licenses that
have traditionally restricted the number of authorized taxis in a given locale. According
to the Wall Street Journal, taxi medallion prices are plunging in some U.S. cities.

For example, in New York City medallions valued at more than US$1.3 million in 2013
have decreased in value to US$700,000 to 800,000 in 2015, and in Chicago prices of
more than US$360,000 in 2013 have decreased to US$240,000 in 2015. The decline in
the value of taxi medalions in turn hurt the financial position of lenders whose loan
portfolios included them. Historically, some lenders have loaned up to 90 percent of a
medallion's value. U.S. companies Signature Bank, Progressive Credit Union (85% of
the total US$625 million loan portfolio was dedicated to taxi medallions in 2015), and
Melrose Credit Union (which in 2015 has US$2 billion connected to taxi medallions)
are all coming under solvency pressure. In addition, CitiGroup has initiated foreclosure
proceedings on 46 taxi medallions.

Criticism

Uber is the subject of ongoing protests and legal action from taxi drivers, taxi
companies, and governments around the world who are trying to stop Uber from
operating in their areas. These groups say that Uber presents unfair competition to taxis
because the company does not pay taxes or licensing fees; that it endangers passengers;
and that drivers are untrained, unlicensed and uninsured. Lawsuits come from Uber
drivers as well, who sometimes complain about being practically Uber's employees
without enjoying the rights and remedies of this category of workers under employment
law. As of mid-2015, protests had been staged in Germany, India, Spain, Colombia,
France, Italy, Denmark, Canada, China and England, among other nations, and
dangerous incidents involving passengers have been documented. Uber executives were

19
arrested in France in June 2015. In December 2014, Uber was banned in Spain and in
two cities in India. Uber continues to be involved in disputes with several governmental
bodies, including local governments in the U.S., Australia and Brazil.

Governments have been largely unable to stop Uber's operations in their jurisdictions
because its operations are conducted primarily over the Internet. At city jurisdictions,
this might be easier to achieve. In addition,

Uber is said to use extremely aggressive tactics such as bullying and hiring investigators
to "dig up dirt" on journalists who criticize them. Portland, Oregon's transportation
commissioner called Uber management "a bunch of thugs". A commissioner in Virginia
who opposed Uber was flooded with emails and calls after Uber distributed his personal
contact information to all of its users in the state.

The Australian New South Wales government created a taskforce to look into the Uber
problem stating that the existing regulatory framework is "difficult to enforce", and
therefore not as effective as it could be. The taskforce also noted that ride sharing
services "appear to meet the criteria of a public passenger service" under the 1990 Act
and drivers are therefore required to pay local government services tax GST. This is
despite the fact Uber has reaffirmed that it is not a taxi service and should not have to
operate under taxi regulation.

Lawsuits by private entities

On December 31, 2013, Uber driver Syed Muzaffar ran over and killed six year old
Sofia Liu in San Francisco, severely injuring her mother and brother in the same
incident. The driver was logged in and waiting for a fare, but not carrying a passenger,
at the time of the accident. Liu's family filed a wrongful death claim against Uber,
claiming that this made Uber responsible for the driver's actions. Uber deactivated
Muzaffar's account after the accident. Syed Muzaffar was arrested on the scene and was
charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter on December 8, 2014. Uber said in a
written statement that all drivers had undergone a "stringent" background check, and
Muzaffar's was "clear". Muzaffar had been arrested in Florida in 2004 on a reckless
driving charge, but California law prohibited private background check services like
Uber's from reporting arrests and crimes more than seven years old. Syed Muzaffar's

20
vehicular manslaughter trial was scheduled to start August 5, 2015. In July 2015, Uber
reached a settlement with the family for an undisclosed sum.

In September 2014, a class-action lawsuit was filed by Atlanta, Georgia taxicab drivers
and CPNC holders as the plaintiff class, against Uber Technologies, Inc., its subsidiary
Raiser LLC (which operates UberX), and in a rare move, all of both companies' drivers
as a defendant class in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia, for restitution of
all metered fares collected via the Uber and UberX apps for trips originating within the
Atlanta city limits. In December 2014, Checker Cab Philadelphia and 44 other taxi
companies in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court of the
Eastern District of Pennsylvania, alleging that Uber was operating illegally in the city.
On March 3, 2015, U.S. District Judge Nitza I. Quinones Alejandro denied a motion for
a preliminary injunction against Uber.

On January 29, 2015, a 25 year old Delhi woman who claims to have been raped in her
city by Uber driver Shiv Kumar Yadav filed a lawsuit against the company for
negligence in US courts. The plaintiff filed a motion for voluntary dismissal of the case
on September 1, 2015, which was granted September 2, 2015. In May 2015, the Milan
Court banned Uberpop alleging "unfair competition" and violation of the local
jurisdiction regulating taxi services. The lawsuit was originally initiated by the Italian
taxi drivers union.

In July 2015, a $400M class-action lawsuit was filed against UberX and UberXL in
Toronto, Canada on behalf of Ontario taxi and limo drivers, brokers, and owners. The
statement of claim alleged that UberX and UberXL violated section 39.1 of the
province’s Highway Traffic Act by having unlicensed drivers picking up passengers and
transporting them for compensation. In March 2016, Sukhvir Tehethi, a local taxi
driver, filed an injunction against Uber. Toronto’s city council amended a bylaw in
October 2015 and, according to Tehethi’s lawyer, Uber drivers are in violation of it.
Tehethi decided to take action saying that it could be months, or even years, if he waits
for City Hall to act. In January 2016, a $1.5M lawsuit was filed against Uber in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by Sergei Lemberg on behalf of a Philadelphia taxicab
medallion owner. The suit claimed that Uber engaged in tortious interference with a
prospective business advantage and engaged in false advertising under the Lanham Act.

21
National Federation of the Blind lawsuit

A lawsuit was filed in the U.S. state of California on September 9, 2014 by the state
chapter of the National Federation of the Blind, in response to the reported denial of
services to "more than 30" blind customers—the lawsuit claimed that the conduct was
in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and California state law. The
WashingtonPost published a direct quote from the complaint, in which the Federation
claims that its constituency "face the degrading experience of being denied a basic
service that is available to all other paying customers." Two cases were described in the
Post article: First, a California UberX driver allegedly stored a service dog in the trunk
of his vehicle and refused to acknowledge the blind passenger's concern upon the latter's
realization of what had occurred; second, a driver allegedly cursed at a blind passenger
during a verbal exchange, in which the latter was explaining the nature of the guide dog.
According to the complaint, the driver suddenly accelerated, and nearly injured the dog,
while also striking the passenger’s blind friend with an open car door. Uber responded
to a number of blind passengers who reported their experiences, stating that since Uber
drivers were independent contractors, the company was unable to oversee their conduct.

The Federation replied in a public statement that Uber closely monitored its drivers'
work practices through the Uber app, that Uber advised blind passengers to notify
drivers about their guide animals in advance, and that the Federation was proceeding
with the filing of the lawsuit after Uber refused to enter into a negotiation with them to
resolve the issue.

Protests

On January 13, 2014, cab drivers in Paris attacked an Uber driver's car near Charles de
Gaulle Airport, protesting competition from the transportation startup. On June 11,
2014, in a concerted action, taxis blocked roads in major European cities in protest
against what they perceive as a threat to their livelihoods from companies such as Uber.
The cabbies contended that Uber and similar smartphone app-based services have an
unfair advantage because they are not subject to the same kinds of fees and regulations
placed on taxis. On June 25, 2015, cab drivers in Paris "locked down" Paris in an anti-

22
Uber protest. Musician Courtney Love got caught in the protest and live tweeted as her
Uber cab was violently attacked and she and her driver were held hostage.

On July 24, 2015 a thousand taxi drivers in Rio de Janeiro blocked traffic during the
morning rush hour protesting Uber's expansion there. (Lawmakers have voted to ban
Uber in São Paulo and Brasilia.). On August 21, 2015 Uber started operations in Costa
Rica. That same day the government asked the taxis for "help" to locate all Uber
drivers. This call resulted in traps set by the taxis and even the vandalism of an Uber
driver's car. Uber stated that it will help and pay for all the inconvenience caused to
their drivers. On November 26, 2015 an Uber driver was beaten by taxi drivers in
Brazil, and similar attacks followed.

On 22 March 2016, thousands of taxi drivers in Jakarta demonstrated against Uber and a
similar service-“Grab”. Several places were targeted during the protests, including the
Indonesian Presidential Palace, the People's Council Building, and the Ministry of
Communication and Informatics central office. Taxi drivers accused that Grab and Uber
were causing them to receive smaller daily incomes due to the rising number of app
users.

The demonstrators also demanded that the government ban the apps and issue a
governmental decree concerning this problem. In Cape Town, South Africa on the 3
June 2016 metered taxi drivers blockaded the road to the city's airport and forced
passengers out of vehicles whilst attacking Uber drivers.

Sabotage against competitors

Uber issued an apology on January 24, 2014, after documents were leaked to the
Valleywag and TechCrunch publications saying that, earlier in the month, Uber
employees in New York City deliberately ordered rides from Gett, a newly established
competitor, only to cancel them later. The purpose of the fake orders was two-fold:
wasting drivers' time to obstruct legitimate customers from securing a car, and offering
drivers incentives — including cash — to join Uber. Uber later issued a statement about
the incident on its website.

23
In August 2014, Lyft, another ridesharing service, reported to CNNMoney that 177
Uber employees had ordered and cancelled approximately 5,560 rides since October
2013, and that it had found links to Uber recruiters by cross-referencing the phone
numbers involved. The CNN Money report identified one Lyft passenger who cancelled
300 rides from May 26 to June 10, 2014, and who was identified as an Uber recruiter by
seven different Lyft drivers. On this occasion, Uber did not issue an apology, but
suggested in a statement on its website that the recruitment attempts were possibly
independent parties trying to make money. A Lyft spokesperson stated to CNNMoney:
"It's unfortunate for affected community members that they have used these tactics, as it
wastes a driver's time and impacts the next passenger waiting for that driver.

OperationSLOG

In August 2014, the online publication TheVerge reported that a secret Uber project,
called "Operation SLOG" — which recruits members with the assistance of TargetCW,
a San Diego, California-based employment agency — appeared to be an extension of
the company's activities in relation to Lyft.

As reported, on July 9, 2014 following Lyft's expansion into New York City, Uber sent
an email offering what it called a "huge commission opportunity" to several contractors
based on the "personal hustle" of the participants. Those who responded met with Uber
marketing managers who attempted, according to one of the contractors, to create a
"street team" to gather intelligence about Lyft’s launch plans and recruit their drivers to
Uber. Recruits were given two Uber-branded iPhones (one a backup, in case the person
was identified by Lyft) and a series of valid credit card numbers to create dummy Lyft
accounts. After being contacted for comment, Target CW warned its contractors against
talking to the media, stating that it represented a violation of a non-disclosure agreement
they signed.

Contractors or employees

Uber contracts with their driver partners under legal arrangements as contractors, and
not employees. Since taxation, work hours, overtime benefits, and so forth may be
treated differently by various political jurisdictions globally, this designation has been
controversial. In the United States, the US Department of Labour issued guidelines in

24
July 2015 to deal with, what it considers, "misclassification" of workers. It argues that
any "worker who is 'economically dependent' on the employer should be treated as an
employee. By contrast, a worker must be in business for himself or herself to be an
independent contractor." The guideline is non-binding, but is expected to have some
influence in various court cases which may establish new common law around the issue.

In a class action lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Northern
District of California on August 16, 2013 Uber drivers plead that they were employees
who had been misclassified as independent contractors and violations of the California
Labour Code and demanded that they be given any tips Uber had collected on their
behalf and payment of business expenses such as gas and maintenance of their vehicles.

The District Judge, Edward M. Chen, ruled in the plaintiffs' favour with respect to a
motion for summary judgement by defendants on March 11, 2015 holding that whether
Uber drivers were employees was a disputed fact to be resolved by the jury. On
September 1, 2015 Chen certified the class but generally limited it to drivers in
California hired before June 2014 (when an opt-out arbitration clause was included in
the contract) who had directly contracted with Uber.

User privacy

Kalanick received a letter, dated November 19, 2014, from Senator Al Franken,
Chairman of the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology
and the Law, over user privacy. In addition to a list of 10 questions, Franken stated that
the company had a "troubling disregard for customer privacy" and that he was
"especially troubled because there appears to be evidence of practices inconsistent with
the policy [Uber spokesperson] Ms. Hourajian articulated" and that "it appears that on
prior occasions your company [Uber] has condoned use of customers’ data for
questionable purposes." Franken concluded his letter by asking for a response by
December 15, 2014. Concerns have been raised about internal misuse of the company's

25
data, in particular the ability of Uber staff to track the movements of its customers,
known as "God View".

In addition to the aforementioned use of the service to track journalists and politicians, a
venture capitalist disclosed in 2011 that Uber staff were using the function
recreationally and viewed being tracked by Uber as a positive reflection on the subject's
character. An individual who had interviewed for a job at Uber said that he was given
unrestricted access to Uber's customer tracking function as part of the interview process,
and that he retained that access for several hours after the interview ended. On February
27, 2015, Uber admitted that it had suffered a data breach more than nine months
before. Driver names and license plate information on approximately 50,000 drivers
were inadvertently disclosed. Uber discovered this leak in September 2014 but waited
more than five months to notify the people affected.

Safety

Checkr Inc., a company that runs security checks on its drivers by identifying addresses
that the potential driver lived at in the past seven years and then matching any
convictions to the addresses, screens Uber drivers. Compared to most taxi companies,
which use Live Scan, a fingerprinting service that checks for matches in FBI and state
databases, Uber’s policy has been critiqued for not being as safe. The only cities where
Uber mandates fingerprint scanning are New York, where a fingerprint scan is needed
to apply for a TLC license, and Houston, which has required fingerprint scans for ride
sharing drivers since 2014. However, Uber claims that the extra step of fingerprinting
drivers in Houston has slowed down driver sign ups, and as a result wait times are on
average 35% longer. On August 4, 2014, the company announced the scheduled
removal of a driver from the service pending a medical review, after the driver suffered
an epileptic seizure while driving that resulted in a crash with a pedestrian in San
Francisco. The 56-year-old driver was hospitalized after hitting three parked cars and
then a man on the sidewalk; an Uber spokesperson said in the announcement that the
driver "has an outstanding record of service and safety with no prior incidents."

26
In December 2014, the New York Times reported on concerns regarding the manner in
which the Uber app notifies drivers about new requests for pick-up from customers.

When a customer makes a request, drivers are notified on an official Uber mobile app
and are provided the customer's location. In order to accept the request, the driver has
approximately 15 seconds to tap the phone to accept the request. An Uber driver
reported that drivers can be temporarily suspended for ignoring these requests.

Deborah Hersman of the National Transportation Safety Board criticized the 15-second
system, saying that it presents a significant distraction to drivers, as drivers are
financially motivated to respond to fares while driving. In response, Uber has stated that
the app "was designed with safety in mind," and that drivers are not required to
physically look at the device to accept a fare. According to South Carolina State Law
(Governor's Action: June 24, 2015, Signed),

Uber Transportation Network Company Partner vehicles must pass annual safety
inspections and post an Uber emblem in the lower right (passenger) side of the
windshield. This is a safety provision that was added to the South Carolina Statutes (SC
Statutes A88, R126, H3525), Chapter 23, Title 58 of the 1976 Code is amended by
adding: Section 58-23-1610.)

In February 2016, Uber's vetting procedures came under scrutiny once more following a
shooting spree purportedly committed by Jason Dalton, an Uber driver in Kalamazoo,
Michigan. Dalton is believed to have been driving for Uber at the time while allegedly
conducting a shooting spree that left six people dead and two others wounded. This led
to a seven-hour manhunt for the suspect, during which it is believed that Dalton
continued to drive and accept fares. Uber was aware of the issues with Dalton, having
received multiple complaints. In March 2016, two Uber drivers in East Lansing,
Michigan, were arrested on sexual assault charges stemming from incidents where they
inappropriately touched female Michigan State University students.

In May 2016, Uber stopped operations in Austin, Texas after the city "...voted 56% to
44% against Proposition 1, which would have allowed ride-hailing companies to
continue using their own background, check systems." Instead, Uber and other ride
sharing companies would have to convert to fingerprint scanning, which is far more

27
expensive and even less effective according to some. Uber "argues that the fingerprint
databases are often out of date and biased against minorities who have been
fingerprinted but never charged with a crime."

Finances
Uber has raised about $11.5B from 14 rounds of venture capital and private equity investors. In
August 2016 "Uber agreed to sell its subsidiary company, Uber China, to Didi. Didi also agreed
to invest $1 billion into Uber Global."

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE

The last few decades have seen companies operating in a highly competitive
environment. The economy is referred to as

“CUSTOMER DRIVEN”

With firms allowing to customers to dictate specifications and quality standards and
also working out corporate strategies evolve around the consumer. However this is not
an easy task because the consumers are moving market and each consumer behaves
uniquely at the market place. The ultimate success of any marketing program will
depend upon the way the consumer behaves and whether his/her behaviour is indicative
of acceptance of the product or services offering from the firms.

Consumer behaviour is not predictable. Consumer needs are dynamic; therefore, he/she
is always looking for something new to satisfy new needs. This is the reason why the
consumer satisfaction has emerged as a separate research area of study since, the past
few decades. The study has been undertaken to determine CONSUMER
SATISFACTION the research has been taken up in analysis of CONSUMER
SATISFACTION with reference to “UBER CABS” in a customer driven, need based
market.

28
CORE CONCEPTS OF MARKETING

Marketing is defined as a “ Social and Managerial process by which individuals and

groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering and exchanging
products value with others “

---- PHILIP KOTLER

The above definition of market rest on the following concepts:-A NEED is a state of
felt deprivation of some basic satisfaction. WANTS are desires for specific satisfiers of
these deeper needs.

DEMANDS are desires for specified products that are backed up by an ability and
willingness to buy them. Wants become demands when they are backed up by
purchasing power.

PRODUCTS are a bundle of utility that can be offered to a market of attention,

acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy a need or a want.

VALUE is the customer’s estimate of this products overall capacity to satisfy his or her
needs, that is it a bundle of benefits, customer expect from a given product or service.

COST of the product depends on the customer’s value. The closeness of a product to an
ideal product determines the cost of the product to the customer’s value.

Since the industrial revolution, business management has undergone six district
concepts of marketing.

1. The Exchange Orientation.

2. The Product Orientation.

3. The Production Orientation.

4. The Sales orientation.

5. The Marketing Concepts.

6. Social Marketing Concept.

29
The Exchange Orientation :-

Marketing does involve exchange of a product between a seller and a buyer usually
based on money. But modern marketing is not merely an exchange operation.
Marketing has now a much wider connotation it covers search of unmet customer wants
formulation of marketing strategies, marketing mix, creative selling and advertising,
serving the customer and so on. All these other vital ingredients of marketing are
conveniently forgotten in exchange oriented marketing approach.

The Product Orientation:-

Management firmly believes that if the product has superb features, quality and
performance customer response is bound to be favourable and all promotion efforts are
needless. This was the marketing philosophy till 1930. Over emphasis on product
excellence may lead a marketer to ignore many other aspects of customer needs and
desires. Customers for whom the product is meant may be ignored. This is called the
phenomenon of marketing myopia or short sightedness.

Company sells what it can make. The focus is on performance and cost. The product
line is usually narrow. The price is based on production and distribution cost. Technical
research enables product improvement and cost cutting in the production process.

Packaging is expected to protect the product and minimize costs. Credit is regarded as
necessary evil. The producer is interested only to minimize bad debt losses. Promotion
is adopted only to give emphasis on product features, quality and price.

This concept can work only in a seller’s market it fails to retain market under keen
competition. Japanese and European cars captured American luxury car market around
1980.

SATISFACTION is the level of the person, felt state resulting from comparing a
product perceived performance in relations to a person’s expectations.

EXCHANGE is the act of obtaining a desired product from someone by offering

something in return.

30
TRANSACTION consists of all the potential customers sharing particular need and
want that might be willing and able to engage in exchange to satisfy that need or want.

MARKETING is the process of exchange of goods and service from the provider to
the consumer. This involves Advertising, Publicity, promotion, pricing, sales and
distribution of goods and services. Marketing also involves market analysis to define the
market.

MARKETER is someone seeking resources from someone else and willing to offer
something of value in exchange.

The Sales Orientation.

Buyers market for money commodities brought about sales-distribution marketing. It

points out that a company cannot secure enough customer response to its products
without high-pressure salesmanship, aggressive advertising and intensive sales
promotion.

Sales Orientation gives emphasis is on inquiring sales volume even at the cost of
consumer satisfaction and service. Many marketers adopt this approach in selling
unsought or unwanted goods. The selling concept is found in the sale of books
insurance and also in auto sales. We also have selling concept at the time of elections
faithfully followed by all political parties. Sales Orientation also exhibits marketing.

The Marketing Concept:-

When a marketer adopts a market oriented business philosophy the guiding principle
becomes “ it is more effective to make what customer wants to buy than to sell them
what a marketer wants to make or sell “. Thus, planning and co-ordination of all
company activities rotate around the primary goal of satisfying customer needs. The
marketing concept is defined as a customer oriented philosophy duly integrated and
implemented through the entire organization in order to serve customers better than
competitors and hereby ensure sustained growth and prosperity. It was introduced in
marketing approach points out that the primary task of a business enterprise is to study
needs, desires and values of the potential customers, and on the basis of latest and
accurate knowledge of market demand, the enterprise must produce and after the
products which will give the desired satisfaction and service to the customers

31
{Much better than its competitors}.

BUYING MOTIVES

Motives can be a strong desire, feeling, a drive, a stimulus or Emotions, which plays a
role in the customer’s decision to a purchase a product or service. A customer purchases
a particular product or service because of a strong inner feeling or force which insist
him to have a possession of the same.

DEFINITION OF BUYING MOTIVE

 All the desire, considerations and impulses which includes a buyer to purchase a
given product

 Prof D.J.Duncan, “Those influences which provide the impulse to buy induce
action.

BUYING MOTIVES

PRODUCT MOTIVES PATRONAGE MOTIVES

PRODUCT MOTIVES: The impulse, considerations and desires a person’s to be truly

inclined to purchase a particular product is called PRODUCT MOTIVES.

PRODUCT MOTIVES

32
 EMOTIONAL PRODUCT RATIONAL PRODUCT
MOTIVE MOTIVE

Patronage buying motive

Why do buyers purchase from certain specific shape?

What are the factors, which persuades the buyer to do play such store patronage?

PATRONAGE MOTIVES

EMOTIONAL PATRONAGE RATIONAL PATRONAGE

MOTIVE MOTIVE

CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIAN MARKET

Philip Kotler has rightly said, “Market may be defined as the relationship between the
consumer and the producer occurring at time and place and a value mutually agreeable
and acceptable to the concerned parties”.

It is the responsibility of the marketing system to discover and serve the market
demands. It provides the vital link in connecting production (supply) and consumption
(demand). Optimum production and optimum consumption will ensure a desired
standard of living in an economy.

The standard of living of people in India is low. An increase in the efficiency of the
market operation can bring down the prices and thus, contribute to an improved
standard of living by bringing more goods within reach of the poorer section of the
population.
33
Improved marketing productivity in India will not only add to the profits of the
company which makes as effort to achieve better marketing efficiency but will also give
inputs to the development of the country.

THE STRUCTUERE OF INDIAN MARKET IS AS FOLLOWS. (Lakhs)

Years Destitute Aspirants Climbers Consuming Very rich

Class

2005-06 17 33 78 75 06

2000-01 24 32 66 55 03

1994-95 35 48 48 29 01

Source: BUSINESS INDIA (projection based on NCAER research)

Except for a few products there is generally little effective competition on the market.
Very few brands are available and because of this, there is strong brand loyalty in India.
The consumers are very conservative and hesitate to try new brands. To a large extent
they are also ignorant about other brands. There is also lack of infrastructure.

A prerequisite of customer driven marketing is that it establishes relationships before or

during the sales process and then continues to recognize that given the level of product
quality on-going sales will prosper so long as a relationship is satisfactory. Poor sales
often are being on the most obvious result of a poor relationship.

34
MEANING OF SATISFACTION:

Whether the buyer is satisfied after purchase depends on the offer’s performance in
relation to the buyer’s expectations. In general:

SATISFACTION is a person’s feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting from

comparing a product’s perceived performance (out come) in relation to his or her
expectations.

“Satisfaction is a function of perceived performance and expectations. If the

performance falls short of the expectations the customer is dissatisfied. If the
performance matches the expectations the customers is satisfied. If the performance
exceeds expectations the customer is highly satisfied or delighted”.

Many companies are aiming for high satisfaction because customers who are just
satisfied still find it easy to switch when a better offer comes along. Those who are
highly satisfied are much ready to switch. High satisfaction or delight creates an
emotional affinity with the brand, not just a rational preference. The result is high
customer loyalty. How do buyers form their expectations? Their expectations are
influenced by their past buying experience, friends and associates advice, and marketers
and competitors’ information and promises. If marketers raise expectations too high the
customer is likely to be disappointed.

Some of today’s most successful companies are raising expectations and delivering
performance to match. These companies are aiming for TCS-Total Customer
Satisfaction. XEROX, for example, guarantees “total satisfaction” and will replace at
its expenses any dissatisfied customer’s equipment for a period of three years of
purchase. Cigna advertises “we’ll never be 100% satisfied until you are, too”. And one
of Honda’s ads says: “One reason our customer so satisfied is that we aren’t”.

Cautions in Measuring Customer Satisfaction:

When customer rate their satisfaction with an element of the company’s performance
say, the company needs to recognize that how the customer define good delivery. For a
customer a good delivery may, on time delivery, order completeness and so on. Yet of

35
the company has to spell out every element in detail. The company must also recognize
that two customers can report being highly satisfied for different reason. Only may be
easily satisfied most of the time and the other but was pleased on this occasion.

Companies should also know that managers and sales people can manipulate their
ratings on customer satisfaction. They can be especially nice to customers just before
the survey. Another danger is company will go out of the way to please customers,
some customers may express high satisfaction classification (even of satisfied) in order
to receive more concessions.

CONSUMER SATISFACTION / DISSATISFACTION

Satisfaction is the expected outcome. It signifies a confirmation that performance of the

chosen alternative is consistent with its prior belief and expectations and dissatisfaction
on the other hand signifies on absence of such conformation. However satisfaction /
dissatisfaction are not an emotion. The evaluation of the emotion is done on the basis of
expectation made by the consumer prior to the purchase. These expectations may be:

 Nature and performance of product or service

 Costs and effort spent before obtaining the product

 Social benefits or costs accrued to the customers

With these three expectations emotion is evaluated.

36
 How customer satisfaction are measured:

Expectations of how the Evaluation of the

Brand should perform performance

Prior product brand experience

Satisfaction
Dissatisfaction
Performance fails to Performance surpasses the
expectations.
Meet expectations
Evaluation of the discrepancy and
Expectation and performance

Expectancy conformation

Factors leading to satisfaction / dissatisfaction

 Occasional use of brand / product.

 Cost / investment involved in choice making.

 Number of out come and their desirability.

 Prior experience of the product / brand.

 PERSONAL expectations and norms.

37
  Group expectations and norms.

 Cultural norms.

 Out comes endurance – the duration for which the outcome persists.

 Time lag between the choice and use of the products.

RESPONSE OF DISSASTISIFED CUSTOMER DISSATISFACTION may lead to

Discontinuing Negative word of Formal complaints to Seeking redress

Purchase Patronage mouth intervention Agencies legal from
customers’ Action

GLANCE AT THE NOTE OF CONSUMERSATISFACTION:

The only job security anybody has in a company comes from quality, productivity and
satisfied consumers. Satisfaction is the level of a person’s felt state resulting from
comparing a product’s perceived performance in relation to the person’s expectations.

The satisfaction level is a function of the difference between the perceived performance
and expectations. A customer could experience one of the three broad levels of
satisfaction. If the performance falls short of expectations, the customer is dissatisfied.

38
If the performance matches the expectations, the customer is satisfied. If the
performance exceeds expectations, the customer is delighted.

Strengths:

 It is a well-recognized brand
 It has a high standard of service, verified drivers and cars. Uber Black users
enjoy very high standard of service.
 Has an unlimited fleet of vehicles. Regular Taxi service regulations are not
applicable for Uber.
 Uber has no full-time drivers. As it does not hire drivers, there are no
responsibilities toward employees.
 Operational cost is quite low. As it relies on customer-to-driver interaction, a
dispatcher is not needed.
 Very little competition. A major competitor is Lyft.
 As cashless payment system is used, Uber can track and choose highly rated
drivers. It has many other features like getting a car easily and having record of
the spending.
 Dual rating system boosts trust and safety.
 The system is convenient for the drivers. They can work flexible hours and even
choose to be a part-time employee. Drivers can also reject unwanted clients.
 The prices are lower compared to traditional taxi operators.
 High valuation of Uber. Many people are ready to invest on it.

Weaknesses:

 The idea can be easily imitated. Nothing will prevent competition from
presenting the same product.

39
  Relationship between Uber and the drivers is ethically questionable. It lacks the
real connection. So, it is expected that loyalty between Uber and its drivers is
quite low.

 Also, company and its customers have no bonding. Incentive to remain with
Uber is low.

 Costs of operating vehicles are very high. But, the drivers do not earn so much.

 Very Unpredictable business model.

 There are privacy concerns. Uber records where customer gets the taxi from. It
also notes where he goes with it.

Opportunities:

 Customers are often dissatisfied with traditional cab companies because of high
prices and long waiting time.
 can exploit new and big markets in countries like India where taxi services are
inconvenient and expensive.
 Can tap growing markets in suburban areas where taxi services are not available.
 Rise in number of Uber drivers will reduce the Estimated Time of Arrival. This
will make Uber more liked. The startup will get more revenue and drivers will
be profited as well.
 Uber can increase the valuation. This might appeal more investors. As a result,
Uber will have more money to operate.
 Cheaper electric cars can be used. It will reduce the cost and increase the
driver’s profit margin.
 Additional services like transporting older patients to hospital, transporting
children to school and transporting pets to the vet can be offered.

Threats:

 Drivers aren’t happy with the low-profit margins. This might lead to bad
publicity. This can in turn discourage the new drivers from joining Uber.
40
  Some new legal regulations in countries like Germany will ban Uber from
operating.

 Problems with local authorities can lead to fines. It will also earn a bad PR.

 Increasing competition will ultimately decrease prices. This will discourage

drivers from joining the startup in new markets. This will result in loss of
customers. Uber’s revenues will decline.

 As new markets and drivers are joining, fraud and scandals are also increasing.
It is damaging for the brand.

 Self-driving cars, e.g. Google Cars, will eliminate the need for Uber.

 Overvaluation can lead to Overinvestment in locations where there is no room

for businesses of a similar type.

There is no doubt that the customers love Uber. They enjoy benefits of the service.
Apart from the fact that it is convenient, they like how Uber helps save time and money.
But, governments and drivers often hate Uber. To main its customer-centric
approach, the company charges a very low price. This is why the drivers do not have a
high-profit margin.

Uber does not have to follow the regulations that traditional drivers must abide by.  It
has been fined for skirting regulations many times. Germany, France, India, Thailand,
Netherlands and United Kingdom are some of the countries that fined Uber. Negative
press is something the startup must work on overcoming.

It is not known what Uber’s future is. Google Cars are a big threat to its success. Uber
should maintain its strengths. It should address the weaknesses found in the SWOT. The
aim should be to turn weaknesses into strength. The team must work and exploit the
opportunities and avoid the weaknesses.

41
 CHAPTER -3

FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

42
FINDINGS BASED ON QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSES

o Age of respondents

Age No. of respondents

18-25 18

26-33 24

34-41 17

42 & above 11

Total 70

43
 No. of respondents
80

70
70
60

50 No. of respondents
40

30

20 24
18 17
10
11
0
18-25 26-33 34-41 42 & above Total

Interpretation: The above graph represents the distribution of respondent’s age group-
Out of 70 people, 18 people belong to 18-25 age group, 24 people belong to 26-33 age
groups, 17 people belong to 34-41 age group and 11 people belong to age group 42 and
above.

 Gender of respondents
Gender No. of respondents

Male 44

Female 26

Total 70

44
 No. of respondents
80

70
70
60

50 No. of respondents
40 44

30
26
20

10

0
Male Female Total

Interpretation: The above graph represents distribution of gender (male and female).

Out of 70 people 44 are male and 26 are female.

 Occupation of the respondents

Occupation No. of respondents

Business 6

Service 25

Student 25

Other 14

45
 Total 70

80

70

60

50

40 TIME SAVING(EVEN IF IT IS
NOT EONOMICAL)
30 NO REASON
TOTAL
20

10

0
50

Interpretation: The above graph represents occupation distribution among 70 people

out of which 19 are involved in business, 37 in service, 9 are student, and 5 are
mentioned as others.

1.Terms of choosing ride sharing services

TERM NO.
ECONOMIC 50
TIME SAVING(EVEN IF IT IS NOT EONOMICAL) 6
NO REASON (JUST CONCERNED WITH RIDING) 14
TOTAL 70

46
 NO.

TOTAL

NO REASON (JUST CONCERNED WITH RIDING)

NO.

TIME SAVING(EVEN IF IT IS NOT EONOMICAL)

ECONOMIC

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Interpretation: Above bar graph shows that in total 70, 50 people choose economic
rideshare, 6 choose time saving ride and the rest14 just ride on no terms.

2..Have you ever ridden in an Uber vehicle as a customer?

YES 35

NO 25

47
 40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
YES NO

3.Are you satisfied with overall performance of uber?

YES 50

NO 20

48
 60

50

40

30

20

10

0
YES NO

4.Do you feel safe as a customer riding with uber?

YES 50

NO 20

49
 60

50

40

30

20

10

0
YES NO

5.Do you feel safe driving with uber in night time?

YES 10
NO 60

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
YES NO

6. Does uber charges so much for a normal ride?

YES 25
NO 45

50
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
YES NO

7. Will you recommend this to others?

YES 30
NO 40

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
YES NO

8. Do you find easy availability of UBER CARS around your residence?

YES 55
NO 15

51
 60

50

40

30

20

10

0
YES NO

9.How do you find the behaviour of UBER DRIVERS?

GOOD 60
BAD 10

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
GOOD BAD

52
 CHAPTER -4

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

CONCLUSION

After the data analysis, the data tells that UBER is so good at its planning for the future.

The data’s collected by sources simply shows that UBER has that potential to grow
further even after having such cruel competitors that can easily throw UBER out.

UBER made such good appearance by which it even compelled GOOGLE VENTURES
to invest.

It also proved itself desi by tying up with BHARTI AIRTEL for providing better
networking services.
53
SUGGESTIONS

1.  Drivers could see destination before accepting. (or at least give us an option to enter
in max travel distance).

2. Add a tip option. ( let them know tip is not included and is optional)

3. I believe in safety foremost. I think Uber should have a 911 button that the driver
could press in case of an emergency that will alert the authorities.

54
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:

Kotler, Armstrong, Agnihotri and Haque, (2010), Principles of Management- A South

Asian Perspective, 13th edition, Pearson Education.

Research methodology-C.R. KOTHARI

Websites:
HTTP://WWW.UBER.COM

WWW.GOGGLE.COM

WWW.WIKIPEDIA.COM

SAMPLE QUESTIONAIRE

55
1. Have you ever ridden in an Uber vehicle as a customer?
 YES
 NO
2. Are you satisfied with overall performance of uber?
 VERY MUCH
 NOT SATISFIED
3. Do you feel safe riding with uber?
 YES
 NO
4. Do you feel safe while riding uber in the night?
 YES
 NO
5. Does uber charges so much for a normal ride?
 YES
 NO
6. Does uber charges so much for a normal ride?
 YES
 NO
7. Will you recommend this to others?
 YES
 NO
8. Do you find easy availability of UBER CARS around your residence?
 YES
 NO
9. How do you find the behaviour of UBER DRIVERS?
 YES
 NO

56