BENGALURU: Namma Yatri, the autorickshaw booking app backed by the Auto Rickshaw Drivers’ Union (ARDU) of Bengaluru, which has been giving tough competition to other aggregators, has announced that it will collect a subscription fee from drivers from September 1.
The app plans to charge drivers a flat Rs 25 fee per day for unlimited rides or Rs 2.5 for the first ten rides daily. Launched in 2022, the app has around 17 lakh customers with 89,000 auto drivers registered on it. It operates as an open platform, logging approximately 90,000 daily trips. It has registered over 79 lakh trips in the last nine months.
The move has invited mixed reactions from auto drivers with some rueing that they were earlier promised that no charges will be fixed while others saying that this is a small price to pay compared to other aggregators that charge a 30% commission. Several drivers said if the subscription plan stays the same, they are willing to accept it, but if the app plans to increase the prices over time, then it will burn a hole in their pocket.
“This is still better than Ola and Uber as their commission rates are very high. Hopefully, Namma Yatri won’t increase the amount. If that is done, then there is no difference between them and other apps,” said Narayana Swamy, an auto driver outside Indiranagar Metro Station.
Shan MS, Chief Growth Officer of Juspay which helped develop the app, said the subscription is being introduced to cover the maintenance cost of the software as well as costs for marketing and overhead expenditure.
“Within a week of launching these plans, over 35,000 drivers have opted for it, with 7,500 completing the subscription. We are also actively exploring further price reductions in the future,” he added.
Arun Kumar, a driver for 15 years, said, “Earlier they promised no fee at all. With this development, we have no choice, but to use a mix of aggregator apps.” “To avoid this fee, we will try and convince customers not to book via the app,” another driver added.
Ola, Uber, Rapido and Namma Yatri apps are dealing with the issue of drivers arriving at the location and then asking customers to cancel the ride. Auto driver Bacchalal Kumar said, “Anyway, the profit margin is so less, why will we pay another app our money?” However, auto union president Rudra Murthy claimed that not many will be impacted by the move and it is somewhat “manageable”.