Startups run to serve unhappy Ola, Uber drivers, at a cost

Scores of companies from homegrown startups to US firms, who want to build their own cab aggregator app, are reaching out to drivers disgruntled with Ola and Uber.

Drivers will meet the company representatives on Monday once again to sort out issues regarding the reduced earnings. However, driver union leaders feel that the companies are not ready to budge.

“This is the fourth meeting. They don’t want to solve our problems. So, instead of begging the companies, we are planning to set up our own app which works on ‘by the drivers and for drivers’ model. Many companies have offered to help us,” said Tanveer Pasha, leader of a drivers’ union.

US entrepreneur Philip Macafee, who has been writing about ride-sharing cab aggregators exploiting immigrants and people from lower classes in the US, has offered to help the drivers. In a message to driver union leaders, Macafee promised to help drivers to run their platform successfully.

Ravi Linganuri of Bengaluru-based Tabverts said he has an advertising-cum-ride sharing model that ensures minimum pay for drivers. “A driver will get at least Rs 50,000 per annum from advertisements,” he said.

Drivers think that having their own company will streamline the pay model to help them take home what they earn. “We pay more than 25% of our earnings as commission to Ola and Uber. We spend more than 40% on fuel. Add the 5% tax and vehicle maintenance costs, there is nothing much to left,” Pasha explained.

Sources in Ola, however, said running a cab aggregating app requires nearly a thousand back-end operations. “Besides, the drivers have to realise that they have to invest a lot to first grab the market. There is a cut-throat competition and it is tough to survive,” the source said.

Ruchi Dana of Jugaad, a tech company that offers last-mile logistics solutions, has offered its cloud-based technology. “We manage entire backend for the drivers at minimal service charges. Our operations are running successfully in over two countries. We hope to empower individual drivers in India and ready to support them to have indigenous control,” she said.

Abhilek Tripathy of Startup Street said he can not only provide the fleet management app but also educate the drivers on the business model of such platforms. “I studied Ola and Uber and wrote a detailed analysis paper back in 2013, when I predicted this bubble burst. Now, I can educate drivers on the model and prevent them from making the same mistake,” Tripathy said.

Kulabhushan Singh Yadav of Mantra Labs that has built apps for two cab aggregator companies in Coimbatore and Delhi NCR, said his company can build a platform that does not require large number of behind-the-scene operations.

“We have offered to build an app for the Bengaluru drivers. We need to be realistic in the beginning. We will create an app that has minimum features and low bugs. Marketing it is a challenge that they have to face,” he said.