Bike-taxi service operator Rapido has introduced its auto-rickshaw service to Karnataka’s capital city of Bengaluru making the service available in 26 Indian cities with a fleet of more than 1.5 lakh autos.
Currently, the operating platform has deployed around 20,000 autos and has plans to increase the number to over 50,000 by the end of the year 2021.
The auto service will be offered at the metre price following the state’s rate card, i.e., the minimum fare for the first 1.9 km being ₹25 along with ₹13 for every additional kilometre).
The startup’s Vice President (VP), Shravya Reddy, commented, “Since the onset of COVID-19, autos have emerged as the preferred mode of transport in addition to bike taxis. Auto service is highly penetrated but very scattered. There’s high offline competition and with low demand, auto drivers tend to charge high street premiums.”
Reddy continued saying that the company aimed to strike a balance between demand and supply along with bringing more reliability and convenience for both captains and customers.
The startup was founded by Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli and S. R. Rishikesh in the year 2015. It launched its auto service last year starting with 14 key Indian cities across ten different states.
Rapido expects to witness growth by adding five lakh more autos nationwide by the end of 2021.
