BENGALURU: A week ago, Bowring Institute initiated cab services exclusively for their members post 9 pm. They have tied up with a cab company so members who have consumed alcohol and don’t want to drive when drunk, can get home without any hassle. HS Srikanth, secretary of Bowring, says he was toying with the idea for a year.
“Drunken driving and checking by cops were the two main reasons we decided to tie up with Cel Cabs. We were receiving a lot of complaints from members about getting home post 10.30 pm. Though they drink responsibly, they would have to go through police checks in the Central Business District area,” says Srikanth, adding that cabs services are available from 9pm to 1am.
“While driving in an inebriated state is a problem, cancellation, lack of vehicles and fare hikes is an issue members faced with app-based cab services. Our younger members also feel safer with this value addition. They just need to ask for a drop at the reception. The amount will be debited to their member account so they don’t have to pay on spot,” he adds. A message is sent by the driver once the customer is dropped, updating the club staff that they have reached home safe. For the trial period, the club caters to 106 localities, half of which are within a five-kilometre radius and the rest between six and 10 kilometres.
Based on the demand, they will increase the number of vehicles from the three and five cars they have now for weekdays and weekends respectively. In the future, they plan to expand this to pick-up services as well.
Rakshit SP, secretary of The Federation of Clubs and past president of Century Club, says they have been providing the same services for three years now. “As a federation, we do not like any of our members to consume alcohol and drive.
It is not restricted to drinking. In fact, most of the members who avail the service at Century Club are elderly people. Senior citizens may not want to drive late at night. There is no restriction on radius and they will be dropped to their homes, irrespective of location,” Rakshith says, adding that most of the clubs in Bengaluru are providing or plan to provide these services for convenience of members.
“It can be debited to their account or they can pay on the spot - it’s flexible. Most of these cabs are GPRS driven and there is a tracking facility. We have had no complaints with respect to security,” he adds.
Cab costs
At Bowring, for the first five kms, the cab fare is `150, and `250 for distances of six to 10 kms.