Radio Taxis in India to go up to 174,000 by 2010
Chennai (PTI): Radio cab services are set to witness a boom in their bussiness, with the number of such taxis expected to swell from the present 2,000 to 174,000, taking the business to Rs 7,210 crore per year by 2010.
A study by Dare, a magazine for entrepreneurs from the Cybermedia group, has found that radio taxis will become common in five major cities and 12 smaller ones in the country by 2010.
At present, radio taxis exist in around 10 cities, most of them in Delhi.
By 2010, top five cities in the country will each have 20,000 cabs, whereas, about 6,000 vehicles each will ply in each of the 12 smaller cities, according to the study. This translates into deployment of 1,72,000 radio cabs across the country.
"Passengers' needs like safety, comfort and convenience have translated into a big business opportunity in the form of radio cabs," said Krishna Kumar, group Editor of Dare.
Kunal Lalani, Managing Director of Mega Group which obtained licence for operating "Megacabs" in 2002, said similar models in cities like Singapore and Dubai were studied before introducing the concept in India.
However, it was only in 2006 that the concept really took off in a big way after people realized the safety and convenience aspects of radio taxis.
The GPRS-GPS tracking system in the cab helps the company call centre inform the drivers about passenger availability and monitor the whereabouts of each cab in the fleet.
With a "panic button" in the cab, the customer can seek the help of the call centre in case of any emergency. The geo-fencing system ensures that the cab does not go off-route, ensuring safety as well as fair charges.
The customer can pay either by cash or credit card and also get a printed bill. The details of the entire trip, from pick-up to billing are recorded at the call centre.
In two years' time, over 10 radio taxi services have come up in the country.
Forsche, an exclusive cab service for women in Mumbai, has only women chauffeurs. Launched in March 2007, Forsche started with one cab and now has 18 women drivers.
Owner of Forsche Revati Roy told PTI that such an exclusive service has gained the confidence of women travelling alone, especially during night. In a month's time, Forsche's services will be available in Delhi and Bangalore.
Other cab services are also in an expansion mode.
Megacab, which operates in Delhi and Chandigarh, will start services in Mumbai soon. It also has plans to operate in Goa, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Jaipur and Kolkata.
Easycabs plans to raise its fleet from 350 to 500 by the end of 2007, said its Managing Director Rajiv K Vij.
Megacab has introduced a scheme which enables better performing chauffeurs own the cars driven by them in a span of 3-4 years. About 50 cabs have already been handed over and about 210 more would be soon given to their drivers who would remain with the network, Lalani said.
Radio cabs already have kiosks at airports. Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Coporation has online booking for cabs in 16 cities across the country.
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