Bike taxis riding high in Gurugram

Kanchan, one of only two women bike taxi drivers in the city, talks about her success

July 24, 2017 12:52 am | Updated 12:52 am IST - GURUGRAM

Niche transport:  The service is popular with office-goers looking for last-mile connectivity with metro stations.

Niche transport: The service is popular with office-goers looking for last-mile connectivity with metro stations.

Twenty-year-old Kanchan Singh, a Lucknow University graduate, took a leap of faith over a year ago and quit her job as a teacher to become a bike taxi driver — one of only two such women drivers in the Millennium City.

Waiting for a passenger at IFFCO Chowk on a humid July day, Kanchan, who works for BIKXIE, said that she has no regrets.

‘Good money’

“As a teacher, I had to work 7-8 hours daily and was paid just ₹3,000-₹4,000 a month. Now, I can earn up to ₹15,000-₹17,000 a month and the work hours are quite flexible. I mostly work in the mornings and evenings. Also, I can turn the app off at any time I need some rest,” said Kanchan, who got to know about the bike taxi service through a friend in January last year.

Introduced towards the end of 2015 in Gurugram, the bike taxi service has become exceptionally popular, especially among office-goers.

Neeraj Kumar, who works for uberMOTO, one of the biggest players in the bike service market, makes an average of 20-25 rides daily.

“I started four months ago and make ₹500-600 per month. Most of my passengers are office-goers. The investment is less compared to auto-rickshaws and the hours are flexible,” he said.

BIKXIE operation manager Kapil Yadav said that the company had started with just 10 motorcycles in November 2015 and now have 60 bikes in their fleet that make 700-900 rides a day.

Expanding fast

“We have also introduced the service in Faridabad and Ambala with 15 motorcycles each,” Mr. Yadav added.

After encouraging results in Gurugram, uberMOTO expanded its services to Noida and Ghaziabad earlier this month. It is also available in Faridabad, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Ahmedabad.

The service has gained popularity with women too, who don’t mind riding pillion with male drivers. “It is cheaper and faster. You do not get caught in the traffic jams,” said Sakshi, who works as a receptionist with a real estate firm and uses the service to get to the office from the metro station.

However, BIKXIE was the first in Gurugram to have women drivers. “We had introduced women drivers at the launch and the response is good. We had four women riders, but two of them have left for personal reasons,” said Mr. Yadav.

“The rides have gone up from 10-12 a day in November 2015 to 20-25 now, but the number of riders have also gone up from around 100 to over a 1,000,” said Amardeep Kumar, a bike taxi driver.

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