In the driver's seat

In recent times, women cab drivers have been gaining a lot of attention and have become quite popular.

There is a big demand for women drivers  especially by corporate companies for their employees.

 Even those working in the night shift feel safer when a woman drives them home. Agencies like Angel Cabs and WomenCabs.com, which are exclusively meant for women cab drivers, have not only empowered women, but also instilled confidence in those who use their services.

Charanya has worked with various cab agencies such as Angel Cabs and Uber.
She has now joined WomenCabs.com and says that while she enjoys her work, she has faced harassment on the job.

 “As a woman, it feels nice to drive a cab and be successful in a male dominated profession. But it is sometimes hard to fight the verbal abuse from fellow male cab drivers and customers,”  she explains. 

Radha, who also works with WomenCabs.com, hails from a small village near Chikkaballapur.

“I trained with WomenCabs.com for a month and now, I am ready to take on the job of a woman cab driver. The agency has not only given me a means to earn my livelihood but also trained me to face the real world and be confident,” she says.  

She says that the cab is fully equipped and ensures that both the passenger and driver are protected.

Kavitha, a native of Chintamani, is a black-belt holder and confesses that she always had a fascination towards driving.

“When I was in class eight, my mother encouraged me to learn karate. It was my
dream to earn something and look after my mother. So I took to driving as a profession,” she says. Kavitha says that she is confident about the job. “It is a risky affair for a woman to drive at nights. Besides, cab drivers don’t have fixed hours. But I am confident about my work since most of our customers are from the corporate field,” she reasons.

The Angel Cabs is another cab service provider in the City. V Bharathi, who has worked with this agency, says, “I work for a lot of corporate companies. I go out of station only if I know the customer. It is a lucrative business but the income per day can vary between Rs 500 and Rs 1000,” she explains.

She says the support she gets from her family members is an added incentive.  “The profession is not as tough for women as it is made out to be. You have to know the job and have a lot of guts to go out there and prove your worth,” she adds. Those who run these services say that they make sure the drivers are safe.

SK Singh, the founder of WomenCabs.com, says that the cab is fit with a double GPS system, a panic button and a camera (which is optional keeping in
mind the privacy of the passenger).

“Our women cab drivers are hand-picked and trained in self-defence techniques and soft skills and we do all that we can to empower them. We hope to reach out and train more women,” says Singh.