India has witnessed a sudden boom in travel startups for the past few years. Few factors that can be stated for this rapid development are the wide availability of internet, smartphone penetration and the growing number of travellers. According to the website, 20 bike taxi startups have been launched in India over the last two years. Some of them are Baxi of Gurgaon and Rapido of Bengaluru. Uber, a leading taxi dispatch company headquartered in California, has recently entered this market space. With the aim to further increase its customer base and obtain monetary benefits, Uber will launch its ultra-economical bike taxi service called ‘UberMOTO’ on a pilot basis today in Bengaluru.

The fares of Uber’s bike taxi service will be as low as Rs 3/km. This makes it the cheapest offering by Uber so far. The brand will charge 20% commission on each ride and provide the travellers an option to pay with either cash or credit. Later, they will be given an electronic receipt too. For the safety of the trippers, the service will include GPS tracking, two-way feedback and options to share noteworthy trip details with family and friends. The drivers are verified through their standard procedure similar to all the other cab drivers that work with Uber. The drivers will carry a helmet for the passengers they pick up.

This offering by Uber might be quite profitable for Karnataka Transport Department. Bengaluru has 3.8 million two-wheelers compared to 1.1 million cars as of March 2015. If UberMOTO turns successful, it might lead to a huge jump in the number of riding options for commuters and more revenue for Uber. This might help the city eliminate traffic congestion and pollution.

Sharing a different perspective altogether, according to the report, Neel Ratan, executive director at audit and consultancy firm PwC, quoted:

“The option may not be completely infeasible for women commuters as they can be opt for women riders on two-wheelers.”

UberMOTO will have to face a stiff competition from other bike taxi brands that are attempting to expand their businesses in differ Indian cities.

Uber is a popular brand worldwide and its bike taxi service in the Indian travel market space might be quite beneficial for the company as India is one of the world’s biggest market for two-wheelers. Although predictive to a certain extent, how will if fare in the coming time is yet to be seen.

Also Read: Uber launches UberMoto bike taxi service in Bangkok

The post After Bangkok, Uber launches UberMOTO for the first time in India today! appeared first on TravHQ.

With the motive to spread the bike taxi trend in India, 74 BC Technologies Pvt Ltd has launched its bike-as-a-taxi service under the brand name of ‘Baxi’ in Gurgaon. Baxi had raised $1.5 million in seed funding for the launch of this service.

Baxi with a pillion rider

Photo Credit: iamwire

In the first phase, 23 bike taxis have been launched and the service can be used for short distances ranging from 3-5 km. The Government of Haryana allowed the use of commercial two-wheelers to operate as a contract carriage in the city. Following the footsteps of Goa, Haryana becomes the second state in the country to allow bikes to be used as taxis.

Baxi and its drivers:

Deputy commisioner TL Satyaparkash launched the first-ever Baxi service at mini-secretariat. Baxi service will have its hub at the Huda City Centre Metro station.The registered bikes will soon offer affordable last-mile connectivity to many other places across the city. Every bike will be available with an insurance policy and travellers will be covered for accidents. An in-house emergency response team will be established and there will be tie-ups with hospitals across the city. The Baxi drivers will be given extensive training on defensive driving, customer handling, hygiene, etiquette and safety. The travellers will be able to recognise the bikes from a distance as the drivers will be wearing uniforms assigned to them.

Safety of the travellers:

As part of the induction process, the drivers have already undergone police verification and ID cards have been provided to all of them. Their details will be submitted to the RTA and the local police stations. For the safety of the travellers, technology will also be used to monitor every driver in real time, on parameters like speed, location, and safety. Every passenger will be mapped to the driver they are riding with, and they will both have SOS buttons on their mobile apps.

Investors and Business Expansion:

There have been investments from several HNIs and friends of the founders. A few HNIs include: Manish Kheterpal, Managing Partner, WaterBridge Ventures; Alok Mittal, Founder, Indifi Technologies; and Puneet Dalmia, Managing Director, Dalmia Bharat Group. The business is expecting to grow to 500 Baxis in Gurgaon in the next three months. The MD of 74 BC Technologies – Ashutosh Johri stated that Haryana has over 75,000 autos and the state of Haryana can accommodate at least 50,000 Baxis. He added that the startup might soon get permissions from 3 other states soon. In this season, they plan to raise a sizeable next round of investment in the $25-30 million range. Baxi aims to reach 500 bikes in Gurgaon in the next few months.

Baxi has been initiated by IIT graduates Ashutosh Johri and Manu Rana. Ashutosh is a Telecom and IT industry veteran with sales experience in international brands like Ericsson and IBM. Manu Rana has worked in several startups like i2Technologies, Match and BookMyShow.

Interested travellers can give a call on 7799777848 to book a Baxi. Payments can be done using the Baxi wallet or cash. It has a minimum charge of Rs. 10 and for every kilometre the travellers will be charged Rs 4.

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