SMEpost

Start-up to give Mumbai’s kaali-peeli taxis a tech facelift

An NRI techie, who’s come back from the US, promises to remove inefficiencies in the ‘Kaali-Peeli’ taxi system in Mumbai and similar services in other top cities in the country. It has signed 1,600 cab drivers to join the network.

Fresh with a licence from the Maharashtra government to run a cab service, ApnaCabs is not competing with Olas and Ubers by exclusively working in the black-and-yellow cab service spectrum.

“There are about 40,000 taxis in Mumbai. Of which, firms like Ola and Uber are covering about 15,000 taxis, the remaining are largely unorganised. We are using technology to reduce the inefficiencies and enhance incomes of Black-and-Yellow and Cool Cabs drivers,” Srikanth Lingidi, Founder and Chief Executive officer of ApnaCabs,  told.

Like in other cab aggregators, this start-up doesn’t intend to have its own fleet. “We are not going to a competitor for our network members. We give them quick leads, increasing their incomes,” he said.

The firm, which employs 48 employees, has invested about Rs. 6.5 crore on building the technology platform and network. “We are planning to raise Rs. 33 crore ($5 million) in the next few months for expanding the services to Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. In Delhi, we have already roped in 200 drivers. We hope to commence operations there in two months,” he said.

Source: Business Line