BENGALURU: Thousands of cab drivers who have signed up with aggregator companies in the city are contemplating about joining the new entrant Namma TYGR, which launched its services in the city on Wednesday. The cab service, funded by former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, was inaugurated by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda at the Puttana Chetty Town Hall.
Several drivers who were present at the function said they had been waiting to see if the company will launch. From Thursday, around 5,000 cabs are expected to ply under the Namma TYGR brand and this has brought a sense of confidence to others who are now queuing to sign up with the company Huli Technologies that operates the service. “We had been hearing about this since the past few months. A lot of us were waiting to see if the services will actually start. The benefits are better than what we get now, but the best part is the fixed price,” said Raju S, a cabbie who was present at the launch.
The fares are fixed at Rs 12.50, Rs14.50 and Rs18.50 per km for hatchbacks, sedans and sports utility vehicles (SUV), respectively. Namma TYGR might seem more expensive at the outset but these fares are better than the changing fare models adopted by other aggregators. “Customers will have an exact idea of what they will pay for the ride. There will be no surge or additional fee and the fare will not change,” said Tanveer Pasha, one of the directors in the company.
The initiative was announced in February after a spate of protests by drivers working with aggregators Ola and Uber. At that time, the drivers had accused both companies of hiking commission rates as well as reducing incentives paid to drivers. This had led to a significant drop in their monthly earnings and had forced many to sell their cars as they could not pay the monthly instalments to banks. Namma TYGR will charge a significantly lower commission per ride at around 12 per cent. Also on the cards is health and accident insurance for drivers as well as other benefits.
On the launch day, around 800 drivers were active on the app during the day. “We have 5,000 vehicles ready to start plying from Thursday. Around 10,800 drivers have signed up and verification of around 5,000 applications is going on. These vehicles will be added to the fleet as soon as verification is complete,” Pasha said.
