C arpooling isn't new to Hyderabad, but the city is yet to take to it seriously. It’s the entry of cab aggregators like Ola and Uber, thanks to their user-friendly apps, that transformed the way people think of car-pooling. From the tech-savvy IT crowd to the common man, city residents are indeed looking at it as a feasible travel option.
Although aspects like security were an initial concern,especially among women, people are now ready to try it out. Apart from these organised biggies, smaller players in the ride-sharing/ car-pooling segment are benefiting from this changed behavioural pattern among Hyderabadis. These smaller players came as a boon in times when rains ravaged the city and booking a cab from the big aggregators was next to impossible, given the surge rates and massive demand.
Mayank, COO of Easy Commute, an app-based shuttling service that targets the IT employee sector is happy to see car-pooling catching up. Having launched a year ago, EasyCommute managed to garner about 1.5 lakh rides, the number escalating significantly post the entry of Ola and Uber into the carpooling sector. Apart from the economic factor, carpooling has caught on because people are genuinely more concerned about pollution than ever before. “We were also able to find takers as our service enabled a good mix of economy and comfort,” he adds. Other services such as Zify (an-app based carpooling initiative that thrives on community or neighbourhood sharing), RideMates (a web-based pooling service that groups employees of the same company) and Co-yatri (an inter-city ride sharing app service) were among the ones to benefit.
Akey aspect that drives this culture change is the technology that makes the service providers accessible. Ola and Uber’s interfaces were lessons that smaller players were quick to grasp. Govind Kavaturi who heads Kairos Society India (that helps nurture startups) points out. “This trend has also ushered in apps where people can choose between different pooling options at once.”
On the other hand, independent taxi services took a beating. Sky Cabs and Meru were among those affected, informs Sunil Shetty, CEO of askmentor.com, a firm that guides and invests in startups. What the trend has also exposed is the city’s lack of desire to initiate ventures. Local players enter the fray only after a major player introduces a concept and succeeds in attracting both users and investors. Insiders feel Hyderabad follows leaders rather than thinking out of the box.
Startups that benefited
-Ridemates
-Zify
-Co-yatri
-Rent a car
-EasyCommute
