We Aim To Capture 5% Market Share Of Total Cab Aggregator Market: Arpan Aggarwal, CEO & Founder, Wagon Cab
Wagon Cab, a self-bootstrapped start-up cab aggregator in Delhi-NCR, which started its services on 28 October 2017, is aiming to bring a disruption in the said market by following a different business model as against other established players in the industry.
In an email interaction with BW Businessworld, Arpan Aggarwal, CEO and Founder, Wagon Cab, talked about the company’s future plans and how it is different from its other competitors in the sector.
In an already over-flowing cab aggregator market, how you came upon the idea of starting a new cab service?
Every cab aggregator is following same business model i.e. hiked fare for riders and excessive commission for driver resulting in excess payment by riders to the company and fabricated commitments with regards to payments with drivers.
The idea behind starting this service is to bring transparency and ease for riders as we being frequent user of cabs services have faced extensively increased bills during short and long distances. Companies are taking advantage of peak hours in the name of surge pricing and ride time charges even in the case of no traffic during a journey.
At Wagon Cab we are offering flat rate for riders and transparent payment for drivers.
How is Wagon Cab different from other players in the sector?
Wagon Cab is different in terms of customer experience i.e. the behavior of driver towards the rider and less payment i.e. flat rate plus toll tax (if applicable) at the end of journey without search for any added coupons. Wagon Cab is charging a nominal subscription over the drivers on daily, weekly and monthly basis so as to reduce the amount of burden and deductions from time to time and situation to situation.
How are you going to sustain the tough competition in this sector, especially from established players like Ola, Uber?
Every industry has a space for new entrants with different business model and can create an impact in the market. At Wagon Cab we are creating a comfort for driver and riders by providing them the transparency of the fares that are being paid and income for drivers from time to time.
We are placed at specific locations as of now i.e. shopping malls, business parks, airport and railway stations and targeting customers travelling on daily basis from specific locations. More the number of customers will land on our platform we will be adding more drivers and capturing the market accordingly.
What are your expansions plans regarding Wagon Cab?
Wagon Cab will intensify its operations within Delhi/NCR with women drivers and enhanced security feature. Within next 6 months we will be touching other cities to get first movers advantage in affordable flat rate cab service against current big players at a very high rate of service.
We are targeting 7,500 drivers on road by the end of current financial year and simultaneously working on 20,000 cabs to be operational under our brand within next 1 year and capturing 5 per cent market share of total market.
How much growth have you attained since your launch? What growth are you expecting in the near future?
Starting from 28 October 2017 – 4 February 2018 its 100 days and we have successfully completed over 80,000 rides in Delhi/NCR. It’s a pronounced number with 500 cabs during launch to 6,800 cabs as of today. Currently we are on cash model and soon we will be developing our product into digital platform with same benefits for drivers and customers and provide more of ease by inculcating e-money into it.
With updated application for Android and as well as on IOS we will be expecting an increase of 5 times in the number of customers as of today and the same will be expanding with more number of drivers at that particular time. Within next six months our target will be 1 driver for 10 customers and increasing the fleet accordingly.
The foremost factor, when it comes to cabs, is safety. What measures and procedures you follow to maintain the safety of customers, especially women?
Both security of passengers as well as security of drivers is important for us. We are doing a triple verification with reference to Aadhaar, commercial license and police verification. Our team of vendors is picking those drivers with self-owned vehicles and has been in this profession for a minimum period of 1 year to ensure the quality of service to customers.
We are also including the code for intimating the nearest PCR in case any customer uses the SOS button. With this technique the nearest PCR will be able to reach and reduce/eliminate the loss to the customer or driver at different point of time.
How much your drivers' earn, as of now? Why drivers, should leave established players like Ola, Uber, and join Wagon Cab?
A driver is earning Rs 1,500 per day at Wagon Cab and paying only Rs 100 per driver to the company as advance subscription at the start of a month. Drivers are also eligible to holidays with respect to prior intimation to the company so that we as company can make sure that we have sufficient number of drivers available on a particular day. Moreover every driver working with Wagon Cab regularly for over 3 months will be eligible for a term insurance to be paid by the company for the security of the family members of the drivers.
Established players are committing huge incentives and bonus from time to time but failed to pay the same at the end of the day as the amount estimated is far above what can actually be paid.
