Mumbai: Meru Cabs is serving as a refuge for drivers attached to Ola and Uber, who are in a standoff with app aggregators. The strike, declared on October 22, entered its 10th day on Wednesday, with a majority of drivers attached to Ola and Uber staying offline and off the roads.

Several drivers are now looking at Meru, one of the first radio cab companies, as an alternative. Nilesh Sangoi, CEO of Meru Cabs, said they are witnessing a massive jump in the number of driver partners getting enlisted. “In the past fortnight, over 12,000 driver partners have joined our platform. There’s also been a significant spike in the number of rides booked and the app registrations,” he said.

In the model offered by Meru, drivers are ‘partners’ with the company and are not their employees. “What sets us apart is that we have rolled out a model we call Cab Marketplace, where a driver can set a price within a range. This solves an important grievance of the driver, as no driver will set a price below his cost price,” Mr. Sangoi said.

In Meru’s model, customers can see the prices of all cabs in their vicinity and choose the most suitable cab based on price, expected time of arrival, car model, etc. A key issue expressed by drivers on strike is dropping the per-kilometre (km) rate, which is making it unviable to do business.

Dharmendra Yadav, who was once attached to Uber, said he had been driving with Meru for the past two days. “I have had to do it out of necessity as my payments were piling up. The model ensures that I earn my running cost but getting customers takes much longer than in the other two (Ola and Uber),” he said.

In Meru’s model, the per-km fare range is set at ₹8 to ₹20 for the hatchback segment, ₹10 to ₹22 for sedans and ₹10 to ₹25 for SUVs. Meru also charges 12% as commission.

“Healthy competition between the drivers ensures that customers get the best price. This is a sustainable way to ensure good prices for customers without doling out discounts and incentives. It also gives ample choice for the customer to choose the best car,” Mr. Sangoi said.