A partnership between the Bengaluru city traffic police and autorickshaw aggregator mGaadi, which began in April this year, is generating satisfied customers and fewer complaints than before, according to police officials. Looking at the success of the scheme, the traffic police and mGaadi are now planning to start three more services at Commercial Street, Anand Rao Circle and BVK Iyengar Road.
“We are looking to bring down traffic congestion in the city, and feel that this collaboration with mGaadi will bring back the faith of the common people in autorickshaws, and they will once again begin to depend more on it,” said M.A. Saleem, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic).
Before this tie-up, the Bengaluru Traffic Police were running 13 prefixed auto stands across Bengaluru. But, customers who faced problems had only the Bengaluru Traffic Police SMS-based complaint system to reach out to, with no rating system in place.
At present, mGaadi powers seven prefixed stands at M.G. Road, Garuda Mall, Yeshwantpur Railway Station, Mantri Mall, Avenue Road, Byatarayanapura satellite bus-stand and Electronics City. The stands are manned by mGaadi personnel equipped with cloud-connected Android/Windows tablets.
Vikrant, a commuter, who had boarded an autorickshaw from M.G. Road to Vasanthnagar, said: “This initiative is very good, and I had a hassle-free drive.” Another satisfied customer, Kapil Shah, who had boarded the auto from M.G. Road to Mekhri Circle, via Jayamahal said, “The service was satisfactory and it was a smooth ride.”
Drivers are pre-registered and trips are assigned by sending SMS to commuters and drivers. All commuters get rating SMSs, and about 5 per cent actually rate their rides, said Vishy Kuruganti, co-founder of mGaadi.
“Poor ratings in this service are less. Only a few auto drivers’ associations are coming forward to start this kind of initiative and help the Bengaluru traffic police to cope with the problems in transportation,” Mr. Saleem said.
