Cheating by Ola (Overcharging)!

I booked an outstation Ola cab 2 days in advance for return trip from Delhi to Hissar starting to be picked up at 8 AM on 09 February 2019 and to return by 3 PM on 10 February 2019. The estimate fare was shown as Rs 4538/-. And at 7.45 AM when I checked the Ola app for vehicle particulars which is released one hour before the journey, I found that the driver had cancelled the trip. On being contacted, customer care asked me to rebook the cab. I did the rebooking and this time the earliest pick up time that I could select was shown as 9.45 AM thereby delaying the trip by 1 hour and 45 minutes. I selected 9.45 AM as departure time and 5 PM as return time. Though I was to return earlier, but after checking various return times, I realised that the estimate fare continues to remain constant till 5 PM and so I selected 5 PM to prevent over charges. The estimate travel distance was shown as 379 Kms and estimate fare was shown as Rs 4612 (all inclusive as per their rate card). Incidentally, “makemytrip” was showing a fare of aprox Rs 4800/- for the same trip. That time I didnt take snapshot but similar trip now also on makemytrip shows it as Rs 4799/- Snapshot attached.

I proceeded with the journey and used the vehicle for additional 15 Kms at Hissar for the work there. I returned by 3 PM (which was two hour earlier than the time selected) due to traffic in Delhi. And then I was surprised to see the bill showing Rs 6531/-. When I checked the details it showed the breakdown as : -
Base fare (for 235 Km) – Rs 2595.98
Additional Distance Charges (158 Kms) – Rs 1738/-
Additional Time Charges (12 Hours) – Rs 1440/-
Night time allowance – Rs 150/-
Driver Allowance (2 days) – Rs 400/-
Taxes – Rs 435.62
Play Convenience Fee – Rs 20/-
Coupon - -250/- (Minus)
Total Rs 6531/-

I called up the customer care and they told me that they cant see the return time selected by me but the app had calculated the trip time as 17 hours and hence has taken 12 hours as extra. He confirmed that the earlier trip was selected for 1 day and 7 hours which was cancelled by the driver for which I had to re select the trip and also accepted that the fare difference between 17 hours trip and 1 day 7 hours trip was only about Rs 200/-. The same can be checked from the snapshots of their app for similar trip now as attached. I told him that there was some problem with your app since the customer does not select or calculate the total time of the trip but only selects the departure and return time which is converted into running time by the app. And since my requirement was of over one day, which is clear from the earlier trip which was cancelled from their end resulting in need of re booking the trip, and also the fact that there is hardly any fare difference between 17 hours and 1 day 7 hours, it does not stand to logic why would I be selecting 17 hours. On the other hand, I proved it to them that the app has some problem because it is calculating base fare for 235 Kms for Hissar return trip which it can not be since Hissar one way is about 185 Kms. I tried all channels for discussions for about four hours. But they wouldnt listen and continued insisting that I have to pay Rs 6531/-. I refused to pay the amount and now they have withheld the drivers money. The driver was a nice person and I dont want him to be penalized for no fault of his but also dont want Ola to take the customers for a ride. If I dont challenge them, tomorrow they will make it a routine to cheat customers. And we have nowhere to go except Ola or Uber.

Can some learned friend advise further course of action without the driver suffering? I feel we, as active citizens, need to take some action before the only two online taxi service providers ie Ola and Uber start bluntly cheating us like this. more