Ola and Uber hurt business of other cab aggregators in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: Hit by the dominance of Ola and Uber, some homegrown app-based cab-hailing services rolled out over the past few years are fighting to survive.
Despite acquiring licence from the transport department, Utoo cabs is no longer functional while the JD(S)-backed Namma TYGR has also gone offline for some time after three of its cabs were seized for operating without licence.

Founded by former Aircel owner C Sivasankaran in 2016, Utoo, which winded up operations at the end of last year, is now thinking of catering to corporates. "We have decided to change our strategy. We will soon relaunch our app for corporate clients," said a spokesperson of Utoo cabs.

Another cab operator, Hi Cabs, has also shut down. Other cabs like Meru and Mega are largely restricted to ferrying airport passengers; Taxi for Sure was earlier acquired by Ola. In November last year, JD(S) state chief H D Kumaraswamy launched Namma TYGR, which promised better incentives for drivers who have been protesting against Ola and Uber for reduced earnings. The move was also expected to help JD(S) in the elections as most cab drivers hail from districts like Ramanagara, Mandya and Channapatna.

"We applied for licence last week and will sort out all issues within seven days," said Tanveer Pasha, MD, Huli Technologies Pvt Ltd, which is operating Namma TYGR.

Kiran Gowda, co-founder of Hi Cabs, said: "We had to stop services as we didn't get enough investments. We couldn't give offers to customers like Ola and Uber as we had to safeguard the interests of drivers as well."

The city has 1.53 lakh taxis. Experts say with Ola and Uber holding complete sway over the cab sector, new operators often struggle to match the market leaders in funding, technology and marketing strategies, and are left with little option but to shut down.