End of Ola and Uber domination in Chennai - A new ride hailing app might come soon!!
Posted on: 18/Apr/2022 9:55:13 AM
In the recent years, Ola and Uber have been highly sought after by the Chennai residents and many auto drivers have been affected. It seems that there might be a new hailing app to help the auto drivers in Chennai.
It was mentioned by TN Auto Rickshaw and Taxi Drivers Welfare Board or TNATS president Mr. Balasubramanian that the High Court�s order to revise the auto fare was superb. He added that there were doubts regarding the public using autos due to revised auto fares now. He concluded that introducing a ride hailing application with the funds available from TNATS could be the solution.
In the neighbouring state of Kerala, all auto drivers have been roped under Kerala Savari app is a known fact. It is now believed that the state of TN must launch the new app for the sake of all auto based on the Kerala Savarai app. It must be noted that the private ride hailing apps charge about Rs 30 per ride as service charge from both auto drivers and from the passengers. Point to be noted is that if the Tamil Nadu govt launched a new app then they could get GST directly for the passengers and plus they could charge Rs 15 per ride.
There are 1.2lakhs autos in Chennai alone and a total of 3.2lakh autos across the state of Tamil Nadu. Seventy percent of the autos in Chennai run on auto gas while the rest run on petrol. In Chennai, one litre of petrol is being sold for Rs 110.85 and auto gas for Rs 73.17. Now, in Chennai, the minimum fare is Rs 25 for the first 1.8kms and Rs 12 per km thereafter.
After Covid-19 pandemic, the number of rides per day has come down drastically and this was pointed out by an auto driver at Ambattur. He hinted that free rides for women passengers in the transport corporation buses have led to less auto rides. He explained that due to these reasons it has become very difficult to lead normal lives by just driving autos alone and how his debts have become more in the last 2 years.
