Socio-Economic Impact of App-based Cab Aggregators (ABCs)

  History of App-Based Taxi services in India

• The word "taxi" elicits nostalgic images of the black-and-yellow Premier Padmini cars for Mumbaikars or the ubiquitous yellow Ambassadors for Kolkatans.
•  Better organized taxi service with better rates and a high level of customer service came into being in the form of Radio Cabs at the beginning of the new millennium.
•  Mega Cabs and Fast Track Taxi started operations with their small fleets. Passengers could book rides through telephone calls, and payment was made in cash. 
• 2010 marked a historical year; Ola entered the scene with its fleet aggregation model. Attracted many drivers who owned cars to join the platform to offer services
• According to statistics, the market volume of taxi services in India is more than 2 million rides per day. OThe market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.7 and reach around $14 billion by 2022.
•  The problems are being percolated downwards and are being faced by riders too. Frustrated drivers are getting into heated debates with riders. The safety of women is also a big issue.

                                  Issues of Gender Dimension in Cab/Taxi Sector

• Tradition, social pressures and a perception that driving is an unsafe vocation for women exists.
• Fear of being "unwelcome on the road."
• No Training of women on how to deal with violence
• Challenges in security, affordability, and accessibility

 

Current Practices

While having discussed the issues, some practices are trying to remove these gender gaps and bring in a different dimension to this sector.

• Kerala's "She Taxi" Service for Women, by Women

• Government of India, few state-run organizations, corporate companies and NGOs are supporting women entrepreneurship

• India's Largest Women Driven Cab Services for Corporates - Womencabs

• Olacabs Pink cab for Women Passengers 

• Ola and Uber have Trans woman drivers

 

Safety Issues

To protect customers from harassment and assaults, app-based aggregators must have a 24x7 emergency hotline or call centre. Police verifications and checking criminal records are not enough. Incidents of driver misconduct should also be recorded. The government should clarify the responsibility of cab aggregators and drivers on their platform. Customers should be able to make an SOS call to the company. 

Future 

If we look at this sector's future, the market for cab aggregators will get high. Even in the pandemic, people preferred the cabs, so there is no doubt that demand will be there. And as the market capital increases, the common public will be encouraged to use cabs. This can lead to the privatization of this sector, and people will get what they want with additional benefits.