JOIN USThe newbie to join the City’s cab service bandwagon may be on a bumpy ride. But there were some takers too. Can these app-based cab hiring services give others a run for their money?
Most women shunned comfort and cheap fares for safety reasons and were apprehensive of travelling in private shuttles such as ZipGo with strangers. “I think most women think twice before trying something new like this for safety reasons. Is it really safe to travel with unknown people in a private shuttle? What are the legal remedies for victims if something unfortunate happens when the cab aggregator service itself is embroiled in legal hassles?” questioned Shiri, a 33-year-old working mother of one. She regularly travels from Koramangala to Whitefiled for work.
You can carpool with a bunch of friends or people you know. Forget the cheap fares or frequency and even comfort-level of the services, women will definitely think twice, keeping in mind the number of unfortunate incidents that have occurred in the past. “I have seen the advertisement hoardings for the service in and around my house in Koramangala. I came across the app too but I did not install it,” she said.
“I have not heard of this service or app. Shuttle-based services are not something new. There have been a few such private service providers I have tried in the last year. For some reason, car-pooling has not been successful in this City,” said Paleema, who moved to Bangalore from Mumbai about a year ago.
However, there are some people who have actually tried out the service. “I tried the service to travel from CMH Road to Silk Board. The main advantage is that unlike buses, your seat is booked and reserved. You can travel long distances in a comfortable AC mini cab. Of course, in a city like Bengaluru, where there is a constant traffic problem, these cabs are not always on time,” observed Vaibhav Kaushik, 24, who works in Indiranagar.
The passengers receive alerts on the app if the cab is late and can also track the cab on the app using GPS. ZipGo’s 12-seater mini-buses run every 15 to 30 minutes and charge between Rs 29 and Rs 59 as of now per trip.
“If you hail a private cab, you have to shell out much more money, at least Rs 120. But if I am a passenger and can travel the same distance in the luxury of an AC vehicle at just a fraction of the cost, why would I not choose such a service? If things go well and business picks up, this may be a threat to other private taxi operators and even autos,” noted Krishnappa, a taxi driver.