Commuters in the NCR will soon be spoilt for choice. Expect a price war, with two new app-based cab aggregator services about to be launched here this week, to take on biggies Uber and Ola.The first one is the more adventurous story, of a seventeen-year-old school dropout from Gurgaon. Sahil Arora, who left Pathways School, Gurgaon around a year back after Class XI, will launch his cab aggregator, Cabby, this Thursday in Delhi.
Arora says he will launch the aggregator with 25,000 operational cabs in the NCR and move to Bengaluru next. "I had the idea of launching my own cab aggregator during the recent strike by cab drivers. I'm offering a better business model that is not vulnerable to external forces," said Arora. He got in touch with driver unions and convinced them of better income and services if they came on board.
The business model relies heavily on drivers. The young entrepreneur plans to divide the 25,000 cabs into different fleets and will appoint a union leader as an operating manager for each.
"Making union leaders the operation managers will help us keep a tab on drivers and also hold them responsible in case of accidents and contingencies," said Arora.
As a part of incentives to lure drivers, Cabby will provide them with an accidental insurance cover of Rs 10 lakh, and free tabs after two months of working with the aggregator. "Drivers feel betrayed by poor commissions doled out by the biggies, and have been complaining of insufficient income of late. We're building a model where they feel valued, because the business depends on them," said Arora.
The base fare for the service will be Rs 37.50 for the first 2 km, and Rs 12.5/km thereafter, which, Arora explained is actually very competitive, as when everything is added up, the prices charged by Ola and Uber come to much higher than promised.
Cabby is not Arora's first venture. He has two start-ups to his name already. The first one, Tabverts, provides digital marketing services within cabs, and has received investment from Indus Ventures. The second is Vezulaa, a tech firm that launched an app allowing one to scan the iris with a smartphone camera. The technology was patented.
Also on Thursday, Gurgaon-based 74 BC Technologies, otherwise known as bike taxi aggregator Baxi, is launching their own cab aggregator app, in seven cities including Delhi, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Bengaluru. Baxi will act as technology provider for the app, which will be available free of cost for cab drivers.
Cab fares will be regulated by a committee formed by taxi union members in respective cities. Though fares will be lower than that stipulated by local governments, yet it promises drivers a comfortable return every month.
"Baxi will not take any commission from the drivers to use their technology platform," said Ashutosh Johri, co-founder of Baxi and an IIT Delhi alumnus. The app will be launched with around 1,000 cabs, and a base fare of Rs 50, with Rs 9/km thereafter along with Rs 1/minute wait charges.
It will be available on Google Playstore and AppStore, and allow a customer to pay using digital wallets like Paytm and MobiKwik, or cash. The app also allows customers to hail a cab off the road.
Regarding their aggregator, Johri said, "We observed problems cab drivers' had with existing aggregators, which are highly flawed, and thought of reinventing the model." He added their app will give drivers true freedom to work and earn at their own pace, without being dictated by unsustainable and artificial incentives.
Taxi driver's unions are expecting the app to help them address issues over which they have been arguing with Ola and Uber over the past few months. They said if aggregators such as Ola and Uber wished to work with them, they must accept conditions.
"These foreign-funded aggregators have been playing with the lives of cab drivers. We're now taking matters in our own hands, providing a solution for all cab drivers to earn well, with dignity," said Praful Shinde, leader of the Mumbai taxi union.
Johri and his batchmate from IIT Delhi Manu Rana launched Baxi in Gurgaon in December 2015 as a bike taxi service, one of India's first two such companies. Baxi is also in talks with investors to raise a Series B investment of $7.5-10 million.
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