Hi Cabs, a company that provides taxi-hailing services, has launched its operations, as it looks to take on the might of Uber and Ola.

The firm will start offering its services, available through an app, in Bengaluru. It has around 2,000 registered cabs under its wing, and is aiming to increase this to 12,000 by the end of 2017.

How does the company plan to make its presence felt in a market that is getting saturated and works on incentives provided to drivers? Talking to BusinessLine , Joe Mathews, founder, Hi Cabs, said that currently only 15 per cent of the demand (for cabs) is being met in most cities. “We are confident of capturing at least that much, which still leaves a lot of room for competition,” he added.

Strategy

On the issue of incentives, Mathews, a former cab-driver himself, believes it will not work in the long run as cab drivers are not just interested in money, but also seek long-term relationships with technology providers.

His strategy also involves no surcharges and cancellation fees, and hand-holding driver-entrepreneurs to get access to housing, insurance and financing options.

Hi Cabs has priced its services in the range of ₹6-12/km depending on the kind of vehicle chosen.

While Mathews is keeping some bits of his strategy under wraps as he believes that competition can replicate it, he has lined up six ways in which an individual can order a cab, apart through the app.

“We will use IVRS (Interactive voice response) and SMS, and that is all I can disclose now.”

Currently, Bengaluru sees around 2 lakh cab bookings every day, in addition to 4 lakh auto-rickshaw bookings, according to industry watchers.

The industry is seeing a considerable amount of interest with Ola raising $400 million in a round of funding in April.

According to a report from TechSci Research, the number of radio taxis plying on Indian roads has witnessed a tenfold increase between 2009 and 2013.

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