Oasis opts out of Ticketmaster's dynamic pricing, calling it 'an unacceptable experience for fans'

by with No Comment Tech

Noel Gallagher

Image Credits: Kate Green / Getty Images

When Oasis announced its reunion tour last month, fans of the British rock icons rejoiced — by some miracle, brothers and frontmen Noel and Liam Gallagher managed to resolve their fifteen-year-long feud and got the band back together. But for fans, getting tickets to see Oasis seemed even more unlikely than the band’s reunion.

Thanks to Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing structure, which ramps up the cost of tickets when there’s a lot of demand, some fans needed to shell out hundreds of dollars more than the initial ticket price to see Oasis play together again. When tickets went on sale for the set of European dates, some tickets that were initially priced at £150 more than doubled to cost £350. Dynamic pricing has caused similar frustrations among fans of artists like Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift.

On Monday, Oasis announced it would expand its reunion tour with shows in North America, but unlike fans in the United Kingdom and Ireland, people buying tickets for North American shows will not have to contend with the maligned dynamic pricing system.

“When unprecedented ticket demand (where the entire tour could be sold many times over at the moment tickets go on sale) is combined with technology that cannot cope with that demand, [dynamic pricing] becomes less effective and can lead to an unacceptable experience for fans,” Oasis’ management wrote in a statement.

Artists can choose to opt out of dynamic pricing, but in some cases, the issue with the feature doesn’t become apparent until it’s too late. Dropout’s Dimension 20, a Dungeons & Dragons actual play show, claimed that it was not aware that it could even opt out in the first place.

“Dynamic Pricing / Platinum Tickets had not been something explained to us, nor something presented as something we had the ability to opt out of – once we had a better understanding of the situation as a group, we communicated to Live Nation that it was Dropout and the cast’s desire to opt out of all dynamic pricing tickets for this event and for all events going forward,” Dropout said in a statement.

Dynamic pricing has become so detested among music fans that Ticketmaster is facing probes in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Thirty-nine state Attorneys General in the U.S. have sued Live Nation-Ticketmaster for anti-competitive practices — the conglomerate controls the majority of ticket sales and venue bookings in the U.S., which legislators argue has stifled competition in the space. Aside from dynamic pricing issues, fans trying to buy tickets to see artists like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé have lost their spots in line after hours in digital queues due to technical issues.

Ticketmaster claims that dynamic pricing aims to deter scalpers from buying tickets for the purpose of selling them later. By raising the prices, though, scalpers remain undeterred, and fans still end up having to pay higher prices to see the show.

“It’s important that fans are treated fairly when they buy tickets, which is why we’ve launched this investigation,” said Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive of the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority. “It’s clear that many people felt they had a bad experience and were surprised by the price of their tickets at check-out.”

Uber Flex in India

Uber testing flexible pricing service in over a dozen Indian cities

by with No Comment Tech

Uber Flex in India

Image Credits: Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch

Uber has quietly been testing a flexible pricing service in more than a dozen cities in India, a move that could help it expand its consumer base in the South Asian nation and put pressure on rival ride-hailing platforms, including Ola and inDrive.

The flexible pricing service, called Uber Flex, was started in India in October last year and has since expanded to more than 12 cities, including Aurangabad, Ajmer, Bareilly, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Dehradun, Gwalior, Indore, Jodhpur and Surat, among others, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. Uber confirmed that the flexible pricing service has expanded.

“We are piloting this feature in some of the Tier 2 and 3 markets in India currently,” an Uber spokesperson said in an emailed response to TechCrunch.

The service, which was initially rolled out for cabs and later expanded to auto-rickshaw rides, lets commuters bid a particular fare for their ride. That’s different from Uber’s standard dynamic pricing model, which moves up and down depending on supply and demand and traffic in a particular region.

Uber Flex offers nine pricing points — with a default price selected — to let riders pick a fare of their choice that will be shared with nearby drivers. Based on that fare, the drivers can accept or reject the ride.

Uber’s competitor inDrive, which operates in a number of Indian cities, allows riders to haggle the fare by manually putting in a particular price for their ride. However, many inDrive drivers in the country have complained about passengers offering them too low prices for their rides. inDrive has not yet addressed the driver concern over riders fiercely bargaining their fare and has instead touted that its “unique approach ensures that drivers are fairly compensated while passengers enjoy an affordable yet high-quality ride-hailing experience.”

“By offering drivers the option to make counterbids to passengers’ prices, inDrive fosters an option for the driver to increase the price if he feels to do so,” inDrive APAC director Roman Ermoshin told TechCrunch while answering how inDrive is addressing driver concerns of not being moderately compensated.

“Drivers are often dissatisfied with the pricing in the ride-hailing platforms, as they yearn for fair compensation for their services. With a focus on fairness and transparency, inDrive showcases a recommended price in the app, which is usually slightly lower than in the other apps, and this is made possible by inDrive’s significantly lower fees for drivers (roughly twice as low as the competition, so the driver earns the same or more as with the higher prices in the other apps).”

Uber is trying to solve the too-low fare problem faced by some inDrive drivers by not allowing passengers to set a specific fare manually in the flex-pricing mode. It also places a cap on the lowest fare.

Uber Flex service live in India's Surat
Uber Flex allows riders to choose a desired fare from the available options. Image Credits: Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch

The service is available for affordable Uber Go rides and Intercity cabs in some cities, while in some, it is even offered for Premier cabs and auto-rickshaw rides. Commuters can pay their fare in cash or via digital payment. Moreover, while Uber’s flex pricing model is available for various modes, the raid-hailing giant is not applying it to all modes in one city.

Uber is testing Flex in other markets including Lebanon, Kenya and Latin America. TechCrunch learned that the company was also looking to test the new service model soon in metro cities in India, including Delhi and Mumbai.

In addition to Uber Flex, the San Francisco-headquartered company is testing different services in India to cater to the local demand. These include Uber Taxis in Mumbai, which offers traditional taxi drivers as an option in the city, and a Wait & Save model in cities including Mumbai, Guwahati and Chandigarh to let riders overcome surge pricing and pre-book a taxi when available at a cheaper fare.

India’s app-based cab market has expanded recently, with new players entering its urban transportation space in the last few months. Companies including BluSmart and Evera offer electric taxis, while Ola, Uber and inDrive have onboarded a large number of gasoline cabs. Last year, bike taxi startup Rapido also started offering its cab service in the country to expand its revenues and reach new customers.

Nonetheless, Indian cab drivers — irrespective of the platform they work on — struggle due to relatively low compensation and lack of safety. There is no clarity for many on whether they will remain in the business once their present vehicles become obsolete.

India’s gig economy drivers face bust in the country’s digital boom

Uber Flex in India

Uber testing flexible pricing service in over a dozen Indian cities

by with No Comment Tech

Uber Flex in India

Image Credits: Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch

Uber has quietly been testing a flexible pricing service in more than a dozen cities in India, a move that could help it expand its consumer base in the South Asian nation and put pressure on rival ride-hailing platforms, including Ola and inDrive.

The flexible pricing service, called Uber Flex, was started in India in October last year and has since expanded to more than 12 cities, including Aurangabad, Ajmer, Bareilly, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Dehradun, Gwalior, Indore, Jodhpur and Surat, among others, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. Uber confirmed that the flexible pricing service has expanded.

“We are piloting this feature in some of the Tier 2 and 3 markets in India currently,” an Uber spokesperson said in an emailed response to TechCrunch.

The service, which was initially rolled out for cabs and later expanded to auto-rickshaw rides, lets commuters bid a particular fare for their ride. That’s different from Uber’s standard dynamic pricing model, which moves up and down depending on supply and demand and traffic in a particular region.

Uber Flex offers nine pricing points — with a default price selected — to let riders pick a fare of their choice that will be shared with nearby drivers. Based on that fare, the drivers can accept or reject the ride.

Uber’s competitor inDrive, which operates in a number of Indian cities, allows riders to haggle the fare by manually putting in a particular price for their ride. However, many inDrive drivers in the country have complained about passengers offering them too low prices for their rides. inDrive has not yet addressed the driver concern over riders fiercely bargaining their fare and has instead touted that its “unique approach ensures that drivers are fairly compensated while passengers enjoy an affordable yet high-quality ride-hailing experience.”

“By offering drivers the option to make counterbids to passengers’ prices, inDrive fosters an option for the driver to increase the price if he feels to do so,” inDrive APAC director Roman Ermoshin told TechCrunch while answering how inDrive is addressing driver concerns of not being moderately compensated.

“Drivers are often dissatisfied with the pricing in the ride-hailing platforms, as they yearn for fair compensation for their services. With a focus on fairness and transparency, inDrive showcases a recommended price in the app, which is usually slightly lower than in the other apps, and this is made possible by inDrive’s significantly lower fees for drivers (roughly twice as low as the competition, so the driver earns the same or more as with the higher prices in the other apps).”

Uber is trying to solve the too-low fare problem faced by some inDrive drivers by not allowing passengers to set a specific fare manually in the flex-pricing mode. It also places a cap on the lowest fare.

Uber Flex service live in India's Surat
Uber Flex allows riders to choose a desired fare from the available options. Image Credits: Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch

The service is available for affordable Uber Go rides and Intercity cabs in some cities, while in some, it is even offered for Premier cabs and auto-rickshaw rides. Commuters can pay their fare in cash or via digital payment. Moreover, while Uber’s flex pricing model is available for various modes, the raid-hailing giant is not applying it to all modes in one city.

Uber is testing Flex in other markets including Lebanon, Kenya and Latin America. TechCrunch learned that the company was also looking to test the new service model soon in metro cities in India, including Delhi and Mumbai.

In addition to Uber Flex, the San Francisco-headquartered company is testing different services in India to cater to the local demand. These include Uber Taxis in Mumbai, which offers traditional taxi drivers as an option in the city, and a Wait & Save model in cities including Mumbai, Guwahati and Chandigarh to let riders overcome surge pricing and pre-book a taxi when available at a cheaper fare.

India’s app-based cab market has expanded recently, with new players entering its urban transportation space in the last few months. Companies including BluSmart and Evera offer electric taxis, while Ola, Uber and inDrive have onboarded a large number of gasoline cabs. Last year, bike taxi startup Rapido also started offering its cab service in the country to expand its revenues and reach new customers.

Nonetheless, Indian cab drivers — irrespective of the platform they work on — struggle due to relatively low compensation and lack of safety. There is no clarity for many on whether they will remain in the business once their present vehicles become obsolete.

India’s gig economy drivers face bust in the country’s digital boom