Wow! It is a good incentive to attract drivers! Now Uber & Ola have to better this!! It is raining bonanzas to taxi drivers! Most are earning over Rs 50000 per month from earlier Rs 15000 thus attracting educated class to this profession! Hope with all this the service goes up!!
[h=1]Sivasankaran founded UTOO to offer flats to drivers[/h] [h=2]Company to invest around Rs 7,000 crore to buy flats[/h] T E Narasimhan & Gireesh Babu | Chennai August 2, 2016 Last Updated at 20:00 IST
C Sivasankaran
To motivate drivers, mobile-based taxi aggregator UTOO plans to offer flats to its drivers. The company said it will have to buy around 120,000 flats across the country to achieve this end.
Aircel founder C Sivasankaran-promoted mobile taxi aggregator, which is backed by Ajay Piramal is taking on Ola and Uber.
Sivasankaran confirmed the move and said initially the company is planning to give around 8,500 flats in Chennai. It has already purchased around 200 flats in Perambur, a suburb near Chennai, from a private builder.
The flat ranges from around Rs 15-25 lakh, of this around 10-15 per cent will come from the driver from his margin, said Sivasankaran.
He is also planning to more such flats in Old Mahabalipuram Road, Ambattur, and Porur, and in other state capitals in which UTOO will launch it services.
All the apartments will be aproximately 60 square metres. The drivers choose the location while the company will show them about five to eight different apartments in different locality. Whichever locality a driver prefers to live, he will choose.
"We want to give away around 1.20 lakh units and this would cost us around Rs 21,000 crore. While UTOO will spend around Rs 7,000 crore, the balance would come by way of debt and subsidy."
Sivasankaran said that he would leverage Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), which is a credit-subsidy scheme for home.
As the cab driver cannot bring in lakhs of rupees, UTOO will chip in with the margin money, said Sivasankaran. The gap funding that UTOO offers is based on an eligibility of 5,000 trips, which UTOO estimates can be done in 12-18 months.
Every driver is eligible. If he doesnt have the margin money to pay, then he has to work with the company for 5,000 trips, which may take approximately after 12 to 14 months. The margin money ranges from 10-15 per cent of the apartment, but if the driver completes the 5,000 trips, Utoo will arrange 103 per cent of the finance, including the registration, said Sivasankaran.
The app-based on demand taxi business by backing the Chennai-based start-up UTOO was launched in June. Sivasankaran said the soft launch was successful and planning to full fledge commercial launch from September first week.
The company is also planning to expand in Hyderabad and Bengalaru and set a target to launch its service across all capital cities with an inventory of around 37,500 vehicles on board.
It may be noted that Sivasankaran launched Aircel in a competitive environment, when there were players like Airtel and RPG established in the telecom market. Later, he sold the company and the deal went into controversy as according to CBI, he was forced to sell the stake in Aircel and two subsidiary firms to Malaysian firm Maxis Group in 2006, allegedly by former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran.
Earlier, he said that he is thankful to Uber and Ola for creating the market. UTOO will match the lowest price of its competitor and will offer quality services.
In the earlier press conference, Sivasankaran said that he will not incentivise the customer or the driver and will have a "no surge" policy at all times. This scheme (house to drivers) is to motivate the drivers," he said.
He said that the goal is not to have a major market share in India, but to have sustainable business making profit quarter by quarter.
Refusing to put any specific number to the initial investment, he said that it would invest around Rs 350 crore to 1,200 crore depending upon the requirement. It is also open funding, he added.
http://www.business-standard.com/ar...to-offer-flats-to-drivers-116080201406_1.html
[h=1]Sivasankaran founded UTOO to offer flats to drivers[/h] [h=2]Company to invest around Rs 7,000 crore to buy flats[/h] T E Narasimhan & Gireesh Babu | Chennai August 2, 2016 Last Updated at 20:00 IST
C Sivasankaran
- [h=2][/h]
-
To motivate drivers, mobile-based taxi aggregator UTOO plans to offer flats to its drivers. The company said it will have to buy around 120,000 flats across the country to achieve this end.
Aircel founder C Sivasankaran-promoted mobile taxi aggregator, which is backed by Ajay Piramal is taking on Ola and Uber.
Sivasankaran confirmed the move and said initially the company is planning to give around 8,500 flats in Chennai. It has already purchased around 200 flats in Perambur, a suburb near Chennai, from a private builder.
The flat ranges from around Rs 15-25 lakh, of this around 10-15 per cent will come from the driver from his margin, said Sivasankaran.
He is also planning to more such flats in Old Mahabalipuram Road, Ambattur, and Porur, and in other state capitals in which UTOO will launch it services.
All the apartments will be aproximately 60 square metres. The drivers choose the location while the company will show them about five to eight different apartments in different locality. Whichever locality a driver prefers to live, he will choose.
"We want to give away around 1.20 lakh units and this would cost us around Rs 21,000 crore. While UTOO will spend around Rs 7,000 crore, the balance would come by way of debt and subsidy."
Sivasankaran said that he would leverage Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), which is a credit-subsidy scheme for home.
As the cab driver cannot bring in lakhs of rupees, UTOO will chip in with the margin money, said Sivasankaran. The gap funding that UTOO offers is based on an eligibility of 5,000 trips, which UTOO estimates can be done in 12-18 months.
Every driver is eligible. If he doesnt have the margin money to pay, then he has to work with the company for 5,000 trips, which may take approximately after 12 to 14 months. The margin money ranges from 10-15 per cent of the apartment, but if the driver completes the 5,000 trips, Utoo will arrange 103 per cent of the finance, including the registration, said Sivasankaran.
The app-based on demand taxi business by backing the Chennai-based start-up UTOO was launched in June. Sivasankaran said the soft launch was successful and planning to full fledge commercial launch from September first week.
The company is also planning to expand in Hyderabad and Bengalaru and set a target to launch its service across all capital cities with an inventory of around 37,500 vehicles on board.
It may be noted that Sivasankaran launched Aircel in a competitive environment, when there were players like Airtel and RPG established in the telecom market. Later, he sold the company and the deal went into controversy as according to CBI, he was forced to sell the stake in Aircel and two subsidiary firms to Malaysian firm Maxis Group in 2006, allegedly by former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran.
Earlier, he said that he is thankful to Uber and Ola for creating the market. UTOO will match the lowest price of its competitor and will offer quality services.
In the earlier press conference, Sivasankaran said that he will not incentivise the customer or the driver and will have a "no surge" policy at all times. This scheme (house to drivers) is to motivate the drivers," he said.
He said that the goal is not to have a major market share in India, but to have sustainable business making profit quarter by quarter.
Refusing to put any specific number to the initial investment, he said that it would invest around Rs 350 crore to 1,200 crore depending upon the requirement. It is also open funding, he added.
http://www.business-standard.com/ar...to-offer-flats-to-drivers-116080201406_1.html
