The New Year will begin on a happy note for Mumbaikars. Apna Cabs, a new government authorised taxi aggregator, is set to launch its services, deploying 1,600 kaali-peeli or black and yellow CNG taxis armed with a security device for women commuters.
Founded by Shrikant Lingdi, a US-based professional who works in software business intelligence sector, Apna Cabs will start full-fledged operations in January 2016 after Maharashtra government approved a under the Call Taxi Scheme, 2010, this month.
Mr Lingdi says after the Uber rape case incident in Delhi in December 2014, he decided to develop a “panic button” to make the cabs more secure, a mandatory feature of the new Call Taxi Scheme being unveiled by Maharashtra government in 2016.
“A small square-shaped device will be installed inside the taxi, which the passengers can easily access. The device will have a red button which when pressed will activate a live call to our command centre, which tracks all vehicles through GPS. The command centre will provide the information to the Main Police Control, which can relay the information to patrolling vehicles and provide assistance,” Mr Lingdi said. Taxi services will start after the Transport Commissionerate inspects the security device and grants final clearances.
Customers can call a kaali-peeli taxi or a cool cab by dialling the call centre number 600-00-200 or downloading the Apna Cabs app on their smartphones. Cabs can be booked through a website too. After Bookmycab, Apna Cabs is the second taxi aggregator to launch in Mumbai with Maharashtra government trying to provide a level playing field to kaali-peeli taxis facing stiff competition from app-based taxi operators such as Uber and Ola. Apna Cabs will charge the same government approved fare chart.
“The prevailing taxi service scenario in the country struggles with two challenges: customer security and compliance with government rules,” Mr Lingdi told The Hindu. “With Apna Cabs, we are trying to plug these gaps. Besides being government licensed cab aggregator, we also have developed a security device solution for the safety of customers, especially women passengers. We have applied for a patent for this solution.”
Apna Cabs is a self-funded venture of Mr Lingdi who holds an MBA from Duke Fuqua School of Business in North Carolina and was working with US-based technology consulting firm, Peopletek handling the company’s global market scrutiny and consumer research.
“I was keen to launch car pooling services in Mumbai, and I experimented with it initially. But, I realised that car pooling services will work better if we have a taxi fleet,” he said. Apna Cabs will provide services 24 x 7, and also in packages of full day, half-day and hourly rental packages.
