Namma Yatri to offer auto rides in 6 more cities in Karnataka by year-end

Namma Yatri will expand to six more cities in Karnataka in the next six months as the firm plans to scale up its ride-hailing business that has gained popularity in Bengaluru. 

The firm plans to offer autorickshaw rides in Mangaluru, Udupi, Hubballi-Dharwad, Belagavi, Shivamogga and Kalaburagi by the end of this year, Shan M S, Chief Growth Officer at fintech company Juspay, told DH. 

Namma Yatri is owned by Juspay subsidiary Moving Tech Innovations Limited and was developed under the union government’s Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) platform. 

Namma Yatri’s expansion to other cities in the state could help passengers, especially in North Karnataka, where hardly any auto driver plies by the meter. 

Namma Yatri launched auto-rickshaw rides in Bengaluru in November 2022 on the promise of zero commission for drivers and fair pricing for passengers. It has achieved considerable success and claims to facilitate 1.1 lakh rides in Bengaluru with a 25 per cent market share. 

While Namma Yatri later expanded to Mysuru and Tumakuru in Karnataka, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi, Kolkata and Delhi, it has yet to find comparable success there. In all, the company facilitates 1.3 lakh rides nationwide, Shan said. 

In Bengaluru, Namma Yatri collaborated with the Auto Rickshaw Drivers’ Union (ARDU), which claims to represent 32,000 drivers in the city. 

In December 2023, Namma Yatri claimed that it wasn’t associated with the ARDU alone because it was “union-agnostic”.

But in March this year, the company onboarded the ARDU’s D Rudramurthy and P L Pattabhiram as “community enablers”. 

The company has four community enablers in total. The other two are Naveen Kumar, who represents auto drivers in Tumakuru, and Nagalakshmi, who leads the Mahila Shakthi e-Auto Driving Programme, Shan said.  

Shan added that the company was looking for similar community enablers for expansion in other cities.

“They will work with Namma Yatri employees on product feedback, driver welfare and engagement initiatives,” he said. 

The company is also in the process of onboarding community enablers in Hyderabad Chennai and Delhi, according to Shan.