Tech start-up Burdy today said it would offer cab aggregation services in Delhi-NCR, competing head-on with giants like Ola and Uber in the burgeoning segment. According to co-founder and CEO Rishabh Srivastava, the bootstrapped firm is a "tech company" and will start with cab aggregation and roll out other offerings like repair services as well in the coming months. "We want to bring in transparency in the way cabs services are offered today. We will not charge any commission to the drivers, we will have a monthly licensing fee (of Rs 2,000). There will be no surge pricing for riders and rides will be affordable at Rs 6 km onwards," Rishabh said to PTI.
The company, which will start with Delhi-NCR and expand to other cities in the coming month, has already boarded 12,000 drivers on its platform, he added. Srivastava said the company is engaged in talks to raise funds but declined to provide details.
The company is also focussing on security as a key aspect and will offer SOS services under which it will rush assistance to rider's location to help them. "If they hit SOS button, they will get a call.. If they don't answer, we will send help to the location," he explained.
Burdy will compete head-on with Uber and Ola -both of them backed by giant SoftBank in the Indian market. Both Ola and Uber have invested millions in the Indian market to bring more riders and driver partners on board, offering them discounted rides and incentives, in a bid to wrest control of the lucrative Indian market.
Over the last few years, the explosion of smartphones in India the world's second largest telecom market in terms of subscriber base has made it more convenient for consumers to book a cab on the go through apps and secure payment options. Companies such as Ola and Uber have made booking a taxi ride as easy as a couple of quick taps on the phone screen.
