Ola! Moral Economies of the Digital?citapp.iiitb.ac.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Ola-Moral... · 2016-10-25 · Ola A notion of what is a “fair” earning Government set fares,

Ola! Moral Economies of the Digital?

Kavitha Narayanan, Onkar Hoysala, Janaki Srinivasan

28th Annual Conference of the Society for Advancement of Socioeconomics (SASE)

25th June 2016

Structure of the presentation

• Autorickshaws in Bangalore

• Why Ola?

• How Ola works

• Research framework

• Findings and Discussions

SASE Mini Conference, UC Berkeley, 25/06/2016

2

Bangalore

• 3rd largest City in India in terms of population – 10 million people

• 5.5 million vehicles


3

Autorickshaws in Bangalore

• Most used form of intermediate public transport in the city (CiSTUP, 2012)

• 13% of all rides taken, while being 2.7% of the vehicular population, as of 2008

• Require a permit to operate; permits are limited in number

• 125,000 permits, but ~75,000 active autorickshaws

• Commonly called “autos”

• Fare: Minimum Rs 25, and Rs. 13 per kilometre; Government set

CiSTUP. (2012). A Study of the Autorickshaw Sector in Bangalore City -Suggestions for Improved Governance. IISc


4

Autorickshaws in Bangalore

• Hailing autos off the road

• Rounding time

• Queues at auto stands

• Accepting or rejecting a ride

• Negotiating fares


5

Why Ola?


6

How Ola works


7


8

Passenger


9

Hailing an auto with Ola

Research Framework


10

Moral Economies

“Moral economy studies the moral norms and

sentiments that structure and influence economic

practices, both formal and informal, and the way in

which these are reinforced, compromised or

overridden by economic pressures”

Sayer, A. (2004). Moral economy. Department of Sociology, Lancaster University.


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Research Questions

• What are the motivations, economic and otherwise

(moral economies), for auto drivers to join Ola

Auto?

• How has the rise and popularity of Ola Auto led to

producing, reproducing, reifying, and challenging

these moralities?


12

Respondents


13

4 Focus Group Discussions with Auto Drivers

(n= 23)Interview

Respondents

(n=32)

Auto drivers (28)

Ola drivers (24)

Premium (19)Non premium

(5)

Non Ola drivers(4)

Never on Ola (3)

Dropped out of Ola (1)

Auto Unions (3)

ARDU-CITU (1)Adarsha Auto

Union (2)

Ola (1)

Findings and Discussions


14

Findings

• Joining Ola

• Ola Premium

• Right to the passenger


15

Joining Ola - Moralities of economic incentives and pricing


16

Incentives and Pricing


17

Ola Premium: What is the premium on moralities?


18

Ola Premium – Challenging prevailing norms


19

Right to the passenger: Shifting Moralities?


20

Right to the passenger


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Conclusion

Moral economies –norms, sentiments, values

Prevailing norm How these are being affected by uptake of Ola

A notion of what is a “fair” earning

Government set fares, incollaboration with unions.

Reproduced in the app, with government mandated fares. But in relation to fares of cabs, leading to a challenge to the notions of just and fair prices

Hailing an auto Autos are hailed from an auto stand or from off the road.Driver decides to accept or reject based on various norms.

Non-Premium driver: Reproduced on the app as it is on the ground. However, no negotiation of fares.

Premium driver: Prevailing norms being challenged (while within the law) with drivers having lesser choice in accepting or rejecting

Right to the passenger First in the auto stand has the first right to the passenger.

Being challenged – no interaction with the auto stands

New cliques of auto drivers being formed? Ola and non-Ola stands, for example.


22

Conclusion

• Some norms being reproduced, some challenged, some reified

• But is it Transformatory?• Longevity of the changes

• Affecting drivers on and off the platform


23

Thank you


24

Documents

Ola! Moral Economies of the Digital?citapp.iiitb.ac.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Ola-Moral... · 2016-10-25 · Ola A notion of what is a “fair” earning Government set fares,