One could argue, and I will anecdotally, that these companies have brought a much higher standard of service into an industry renowned for providing terrible (at best) service.
So if the outcome is that the price has fluctuated back to the norm, but the service provided is of a higher quality, then the consumer has won.
What will be interesting to see is what consequences will arise from a corresponding drop in demand when met with the normalisation of prices to the previous mean. Especially given that you can't actively chose between the drivers available to you through these apps i.e. if there's less demand, supply will likely drop to meet demand (drivers don't want to be sitting around all evening, or just doing 1-2 gigs per night), and there's no way for the cream of the crop to come to the surface amongst their competition by way of superior service and hence selective demand / consumers.
Intuitively, maybe it will result in harsher ratings from consumers (expecting better service given higher prices) which, with sufficient accumulation, may take lower quality drivers out of circulation and leave those deemed to be best in the marketplace.
They did not win based on their "higher standard of service", but based on their price, which was only possible due to their non-compliance with regulatory requirements.
So if the outcome is that the price has fluctuated back to the norm, but the service provided is of a higher quality, then the consumer has won.
What will be interesting to see is what consequences will arise from a corresponding drop in demand when met with the normalisation of prices to the previous mean. Especially given that you can't actively chose between the drivers available to you through these apps i.e. if there's less demand, supply will likely drop to meet demand (drivers don't want to be sitting around all evening, or just doing 1-2 gigs per night), and there's no way for the cream of the crop to come to the surface amongst their competition by way of superior service and hence selective demand / consumers.
Intuitively, maybe it will result in harsher ratings from consumers (expecting better service given higher prices) which, with sufficient accumulation, may take lower quality drivers out of circulation and leave those deemed to be best in the marketplace.