Watch out Uber and Ola Cabs, there would a new entrant in the taxi booking space who has lots of money and resources at disposal. As per various media reports, Reliance Industries which has disrupted Indian telecom sector with the launch of Reliance Jio is looking to enter the lucrative app-based online taxi service. The launch is so imminent that the company is looking to start its taxi services by March 2017.
If rumours are to be believed, Reliance has already built its fleet of taxis. The company has already bought about 2,000 Toyota Etios car in Kolkata alone. In addition, company has also ordered around 600 cars from Mahindra and Hyundai, which will join the fleet of cabs.
Advantage for Reliance starting a Taxi service
- Deep pockets and lots of money to invest by Mukesh Ambani, the chairman and MD of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL).
- RIL owns Reliance Jio, which provides 4G services in India and already has more than 100 million subscribers.
- Jio Money – a digital mobile wallet which also got Payments bank license from Reserve Bank of India.
- Petroleum and gas products – RIL can produce its own compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel to run the cabs. Also, it can distribute the fuel from its own fuel station. CNG adds a major advantage for RIL, as CNG fitted taxis incur a cost of Rs 4 per km. Compared to diesel running taxis costing around Rs 6 per km.
A unique combination where Reliance owns the entire fleet of cabs, fuelled by its CNG fuel from its own filling stations and fitted with one of India’s most advanced 4G network connection. This can’t be ever matched by a startup taxi booking company OLA or Uber.
Reliance has appointed consulting firm E&Y to come up with pricing strategies that would enable the company to disrupt the Indian app-based online taxi services. The company plans to start its app-based taxi service first in Bangalore and Chennai. Later it will move on to Delhi and Mumbai, along with other smaller Indian cities.