Not enough investors for all-women taxis, drivers don't stay the course

Number of women drivers in public transport sector still remains insignificant

What started as a child’s play will now add a new chapter in her life.  Sheersha, 30, first experimented with driving an autorickshaw at the age of 12 in Telangana. Her story soon made it to the local newspapers. A cab driver in the capital for the past three years, Sheersha will graduate into a DTC bus driver on Monday.

For the first time, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) is hiring women as drivers. For Sheersha, her induction into the team is not a symbol of “women empowerment” alone. She believes it will help bring safety to scores of women commuters in the city.

At a time when the national capital’s transportation system has repeatedly come under the scanner with crime in buses and taxis being commonplace, the question arises if dedicated coaches or vehicles for women or women drivers can add to the safety of commuters.

While after the December 2012 gang-rape, a dedicated metro coach for women came up, the move by the DTC to hire women drivers now is a step further to ensure that there are more women on the streets.

But the number of women drivers in the public transport sector still remains insignificant. Even though several women are now trained in driving commercial vehicles, in the cooling-off period between the training and finding employment they often lose interest to continue in this field.

“In Delhi, it is mandatory for drivers to drive a private vehicle before she procures a commercial licence. Most of these women come from the BPL (Below Poverty Line) category. So what does a woman do for the next one year before she finds work?” says Revathi Roy, pioneer of the first all-women taxi service in India. In 2008, she launched ForShe cabs in Delhi but exited in 2010. Later, she co-founded Viira Cabs in Mumbai.

Sakha Consulting Wings Private Limited is another firm in Delhi which provides a safety solution for women commuters by women.

Women from the marginalised sector are picked up and trained by Azad Foundation, an NGO. Currently, around 100 such women are being trained by the organisation. Once the training is over, a few find employment with the sister concern Sakha Consulting Wings Private Limited which runs cabs for women. Others are engaged in driving private vehicles.

The challenges of running an all women-cab service are many. Launched in 2009, the company currently has a fleet of 14 cabs and around 18 cab drivers. But with a limited number of cabs, the company has to turn down calls regularly. It is also not possible for it to take “instant bookings”.

The bookings have to be made at least 24 hours prior to the travel period.
 The company charges customers on a “point-to-point” basis with separate tariff rates for services to the airport.

“If the government believes there should be a large number of women drivers on the roads, there is an immediate need to simplify the verification process and issuing of commercial licences. The number of visits that we have to make to the RTOs (regional transport offices) is the biggest hindrance in procuring licences,” says Deepali Bhardwaj, Chief Operating Officer at the firm.

Training women in driving is also not just enough. Before the women hit the roads driving cabs, they are given intensive physical training. Acquiring soft skills is also another important component of the eight-month-long training session.  

“First you have to mobilise these women. Because we are a social enterprise, we cannot force them to stay on if they choose to quit the field after the training. With the one year interim period between procuring a commercial licence and training, several women go back to work as domestic helps again. So it is important that we find them work in driving private vehicles during this period,” says Bhardwaj.

Sheersha was handpicked by the government from this firm.

Business matters

Running an all-women fleet is not being looked upon as a lucrative business model yet. An all-women fleet can come up as an alternative transport system for women commuters only when investors are attracted to this model. Roy points out at the current catch-22 situation in the business model.   

“It is a business model which can definitely succeed. But the main issue is that the investors want the business to scale up. And currently, there is not a strong pool of women drivers. So when the investors look at it, they do not see the business scaling up. Also, training is expensive. So till the time you get adequate investments, it is difficult to mobilise adequate number of women,” says Roy.

Though the existing cab services claim to function round-the-clock, the small fleet size makes it impossible to meet the demand. For example, call centres of similar services in Mumbai weren’t of much help.

When Deccan Herald called Priyadarshini Taxi Service, the operator said there was no cab available at any point on Saturday.

The company has a fleet of 15 cabs. Calls made to Viira Cabs, also in Mumbai, did not go through.
However, the game can change with radio taxis entering the fray in launching “pink fleets”.

Meru recently launched MeruEve, a fleet of 20 cabs, in Delhi. When Deccan Herald contacted the service provider for a cab with a woman driver, it was instantly available on Friday evening. The cabs are equipped with a panic button and the drivers trained in self-defence.

And the few women drivers in the city do not want to be the exception – they want such drivers to be a part of the mainstream now.

For 33-year-old Shanti Devi, who is engaged with Sakha Consulting Wings, it is a “mixed feeling” driving around in Delhi at odd hours.

After a 10-hour-long duty, overtime means “a little more money” and a better living for her three daughters.

“I have tried a few odd jobs before. But this job has given me financial stability. My parents back in Assam are proud that I drive a cab in the capital,” says Devi, who came to Delhi in 1997 to make a living.