Getting stranded with a flattened tyre can be anyone’s nightmare.
That’s where the likes of Jijesh turn up like saviours. Jijesh is among the growing tribe of mobile tyre service providers in the city.
Just give a call in their mobile phone numbers and they will reach the spot in their vehicles ready with solutions to all tyre-related problems for 12 hours or more in a day round the week. The charges vary between Rs.100 and Rs.150 within a radius of 4-5 kilometre of the service provider and more beyond that area.
Jijesh, based at Kadavanthra, has been in the business for the last seven years and now boasts of a regular clientele ranging from laymen to judges. That list has been growing with clients sharing his number with friends and caretakers of flats in the area saving the number.
Sijo Joseph, who runs a tyre repair shop at Elamkulam, turned into mobile service despite the inconvenience and cost involved in attending to service requests. “It’s not easy when a worker has to go to the spot, remove the tyre, bring it to the shop, fix it, go back again and fix the tyre,” he said.
The business has not been bad, as he earns on an average Rs.3000 on an operational cost of Rs.400 towards fuel for the autorickshaw and wage of Rs. 700 for the worker.
Even if a client is not in their area, they help the customer to find a service provider. “When one of us gets a call from an area beyond his limits, he would often give the client the number of the person who offers service in that particular area,” said Ganesh based at Thevara.
