Black-and-yellow cabbies launch app to rival Uber, Ola

Black-and-yellow cabbies are launching their own app to rival mobile phone application-based taxi aggregators such as Uber and Ola. The app, called Aamchi (Our) Drive, will be available to book black-and-yellow cabs as well as Cool Cabs (air-conditioned blue and gray colour taxis) from June 1.

There will be no surge pricing on this app and commuters will have to shell out Rs5 more than the government-approved fare to avail the facility. Two major unions of conventional black and yellow taxi drivers in the and Mumbai Taxi Association— have tied up with a Bangalorebased firm — Sun Telemetics Pvt Ltd — to make app-based booking available to Mumbaiites

ditioned (AC)) and non-ac cabs with a few clicks on the app. The app will also have a panic button for emergencies. Passengers can also check estimated fare and

receive a One-time Password via SMS.

Similarly, cabbies in the vicinity would get an alert about the ride and the cabbie who first passengers. The unions said the app will be free for the cabbies, however, the passengers will have to shell out Rs5 per booking toward service charge. “Commuters would be charged as per the government fixed fare,”said Ashutosh Vaidya, head of operations of Sun Telematics. Also, passengers will get a bill on their email at the end of journey.

The app will be first available on the Android and IOS platform and it will support 20 Indian languages, besides English. Sandeep Kabre, head of operations of Sun Telemetics, said the passengers and drivers could chose yjr language as per their convenience