COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF RADIO TAXI SECTOR

ABSTRACT:

The radio taxi business has emerged as one of the fastest growing businesses in the Indian
transportation sector and the way radio taxi business is running today is highly impressive. It
is acting as an intermediary between the customer and the taxi drivers, both customers and
the drivers pay the company for the services respectively and that’s how companies earn their
profit. In this article, the researchers have explored the radio taxi industry in India, how it
runs through different business models, industry forces and at the same time the challenges
for the existing and the potential players in the industry. There is barely any perceived
difference between radio taxi and app based taxi so the elementary difference between the
two, is also clarified. After the study the researchers found that the industry is at
thriving phase due to number of aspects like Influx of tourist, deficiency in public transport
facility, swelling demand from corporate sector etc. Users have also started giving more
importance to comfort rather than budgeted conveyance. Simultaneously, the industry has to
conquer lot of challenges like Safety and security for commuters, manpower dearth and
primarily inadequate resources to equal the growing demand.

Key words: App based taxi, Cab, Challenges, Opportunities, Radio taxi, Uber, OLA
INTRODUCTION:

WHAT IS RADIO TAXI?

Radio taxi is a taxi that operates through radio signals. When a customer calls up the helpline
number of the radio taxi, the operator communicates with chauffeur (driver) via radio signals
to locate the nearest taxi. The taxi reaches the customer as required at the specific place and

time.

FLOWCHART FOR EACH ENTITY OF THE PROCESS

GLOBAL CAB MARKET:

By 2020, the global taxi market is expected to reach approximately 1 million vehicles,
growing at a compound average growth rate (CAGR). Hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs) are
expected to have strong penetration in at least 8 nations by 2020.
The global taxi fleet is expected to have over a million natural gas taxis by 2020. Emerging
economies to be the biggest markets
The City of Paris was the first local regulatory authority to launch an eHail app, “Paris Taxi
Pro” in 2014. By 2020, at least more cities are expected to follow suit.
Over 4 key original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have launched wheelchair-accessible
vehicle (WAV) taxi models. By 2020, autonomous shared taxi pilots are expected in North
America (a semi-restricted environment) and Europe (a restricted environment), with full-
fledged projects launching between 2022 and 2025.
Growth in the taxi market is expected to be driven by government intervention, particularly
with respect to regulations and subsidies to shift to greener technologies. The adoption of
alternate fuels is rising as cities begin enforcing more stringent emission regulations to
control pollution. The advent of eHailing has changed customer perceptions of taxi commutes
and has provided an easier alternative to street hailing. This study introduces the different
market segments that have developed, and discusses automotive Mega Trends and their
impact on this market. In addition, it highlights the key technology trends and analyzes the
new market channel strategies adopted by key vehicle OEMs.

ASIAN CAB MARKET:

Grab Taxi secured $90 million in funding over the past 12 months, powering ahead as the
battle among Southeast Asia's taxi apps continues. The Malaysian taxi-app provider
announced its third and largest round of funding last week for $65 million, led by U.S.
investment firm Tiger Global, following tranches of $15 million and $10 million earlier this
year. Taxi-app providers are racing to gain a foothold in this burgeoning market, as more
consumer’s book taxis using smartphone apps.

There are many players in Southeast Asia's taxi-app market. Some target licensed drivers,
while others connect customers to private cars, so not all apps compete directly.

Aside from GrabTaxi, other apps include EasyTaxi - from German tech incubator Rocket
Internet - also available in 16 cities across Asia, Indonesia's Blue Bird and Vietnam's
PingTaxi.

Uber has come into Asia and because they are much better funded than any of these guys,
they are very aggressive. This is why funding is crucial, [the local players] have to launch in
new cities and you can't do that organically. It's such a new market the first mover advantage
is very important

EVOLUTION OF RADIO TAXIS IN INDIA

Radio Taxi is a wonderful service started a few years back within the metros of India.
Together with the expansion in Indian economy there has been a rise in growth for transport
services. Since the government has not been able to offer smart conveyance, the majority rely
on private transport. What do you do after you are planning to a new city on business or when
you need to visit the airport and catch a flight? Either you book a private cab (which
was extremely expensive) otherwise you use something else like auto (which is really not
comfortable). Thus came Radio Taxi and it is revolutionized the way travel happens in
metros. State Tourism Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely announced on August 29, 2006 that
the Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation would introduce a radio taxi
system to promote tourist activities and improve transport facilities for national
and international tourists. A brand new air conditioned radio taxi service was launched on
December 8, 2006 giving the people a viable option to avail service “anywhere and
anytime” round the clock on the roads at the rate of approximately Rs. 15/km.

RADIO TAXI MARKET IN INDIA

The radio taxi services market in India has huge untapped opportunities. There are very few
players in the organized radio taxi services market who have failed to address the market
demand due to unavailability of required number of cabs. Today, the radio cab segment is
15,000+ cabs in size with 3 large multi-city operators (Meru, Easy, Mega Cabs) holding
nearly 70% market share as well as several smaller operators mushrooming in different cities.
Total operator revenue is estimated to be Rs. 500 Crores, though a better reflection of the
industry size would be total revenue earned from customers, Rs. 1,100 Crores at present. It is
estimated that India radio taxi services market will reach 30,000 taxis by 2017. The
company’s such as MERU CABS has resulted in 120% increase in Net profit after tax for
their equity shareholder which shows the kind of return on investments this newly
created market segment is witnessing.
RADIO TAXI MODEL

The radio Taxi model was the first to come up in India before App-Based model with several
private operators such as Meru, Megacabs, Easycabs etc. coming in.
Demand for radio cabs is soaring in the metros and large cities as companies, executives,
international tourists and affluent Indians opt for travelling in well maintained and modern
taxis. They do not mind paying a slightly higher fare to travel in the comfort of air-
conditioned taxis.

The basic differences of these 2 types of Taxis are below:

Radio taxi App based taxi
License has to be taken Not licensed
Operate with CNG vehicles as per the norms laid down by Operate with diesel variant
supreme court in 2001 also
Only those drivers who have transport badges issued by the
Driver verification is not
transport department after a mandatory police verification can
very strict
be hired
Panic button is compulsory if someone tries to temper or
No need of it
switch of GPS
No need to have call centre.
Need to have 24x7 call centre
Run through app
Need to own a cab they operate It is an aggregator model
GPS in cabs compulsory GPS not compulsory

RADIO TAXI BUSINESS MODELS

The radio cab business functions on various distinct business models.
All the cab companies work on the mixed models such as a mixture of:
a) Company owned Cab
b) Franchise Model
c) Attached Vehicle Model
d) Rent a Cab Model

A) Company Owned Cab:

In this model, the cab is owned by the company itself and they hire drivers on salary and
manage the whole system. It requires very high investment but at the same time it provides an
opportunity for effective control.
B) Franchise Model:
In franchise model, the cab driver himself is the cab owner and he associates with the radio
cab company to get the brand name and increase his business. The driver pays certain
daily/weekly/monthly fee in return to the radio cab company. Following this model, the
radio cab company gets rid of the responsibility of maintenance of the vehicle, and parking
area cost sand the driver has the incentive to keep his vehicle well-maintained.
The fee paid by the franchisees (drivers) isused to train and support the franchisees, market
and advertise
the brand, improve the quality of goods or services, and widen the market. Benefits for the
franchisees (drivers) includes the better chances of getting daily business, higher income,
power of a known brand and simultaneously having the options of getting the passengers
directly.

C) Attached Vehicle Model:

Each cab associated with the cab company is supposed to get at least some minimum
business per day as per the company’s norms, for which in return they pay certain fee
weekly/daily/monthly. The vehicle working under such procedure is called “attached
vehicle”. The cab company promises some minimum fixed number of trips to the cab drivers
for the paid duration. To own the attached vehicle, driver has to sign a contract for certain
time period with some fixed amount of investment and he is allotted one of the
500 registered cabs by the company after a completion of the duration.

D) Rent a Cab Model:

Following information is with respect to “Easy cabs”, which is more or less similar in other companies also.
1. The cab drivers have to pay a security deposit of around Rs.20, 000/- to the company.
2. The driver should have a commercial driving license.
3 . He is supposed to pay a daily rent to the company of approximately Rs.1100 per day for
the cab and whatever he earns beyond that belongs to him. He has to pay for the CNG out of
his pocket and the maintenance of the vehicle is paid by the cab company itself.
4. The monthly income of the cab driver is approximately Rs.25000/-.
5 . The minimum qualification of the cab driver is matriculation. But in some cases if the
driver is experienced enough then eighth pass are also hired.
6. If the cab driver wants to avail a leave for a day or so, he is still liable to submit the fee of
Rs.1100 to the cab company and same applies on weekends too. If he happens to take a leave
on some particular day, his cab is assigned to somebody else and on returning he is
reassigned a cab which might or might not be the same.
7 . Therefore the cab drivers have the incentive to work as much as they can even though
there is no compulsion from the cab company. On an average they work for 12-15 hours a
day. The cab driver did not mention any problems posed by the cab company

UBER VS OLA

In the urban areas where Uber is allowed by districts to work, the following fight is regularly
between the gigantic tech mammoth and the nearby taxi organizations. In any case, in India
the aggressive scene is vastly different: a local tech organization has an early head begin with
a taking off piece of the pie. For this situation, for Uber, the stakes couldn't be substantially
higher.

India is the second most crowded nation on the planet, yet it is relied upon to outperform
China as right on time as 2022 in this classification. All the more critically, the nation will
clearly be a monetary powerhouse and a focal point of worldwide development within a
reasonable time-frame. India has its difficulties, however in a previous chart we demonstrated
that it will match China for general financial development in the coming decades.

So who is sufficiently striking to challenge Uber for the gigantic Indian rideshare showcase?

That organization is Ola Cabs and so far it has raised five rounds of subsidizing, with the
latest being for a weighty $210 million in October 2014. The organization was established in
2010 by Bhavish Aggarwal and gives 750,000 day by day rides in the Indian market. Ola
additionally as of late procured a noteworthy household contender (TaxiForSure) for a total
of $200 million in real money and stock.

Up until now, Uber has submitted $1 billion from speculators to guarantee its strength in
India, however presently the organization just achieves in 200,000 every day rides. Uber has
six years of experience of winning these sorts of fights: against Lyft, against nearby taxi
organizations, in courts, and in the advertising circle.
India's size and divided travel framework additionally implies that there could be space for at
least two rideshare organizations to exist together later on. Since ridesharing is still in its
earliest stages in the market, there is a lot of space to at present develop for the two
organizations: however the fight could be warmed.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Hanif and Sagar (2016) had stated that there was demand for Call-a-Cab service offered by
Meru Cab. The cab services are proving security through global positioning system (GPS)
and women taxi drivers for women passengers especially during night times.

According to Harding et al (2016) the auto-rickshaws (three wheelers) are more popular in
urban Transport before the advent of cars and cabs.

Horsu and Yeboah (2015) had argued that driver behavior have negative impact on
customer satisfaction in Ghana. The variables like continuous service, comfort, reliability and
affordability have an impact on customer satisfaction with regard to minicab taxi.

According to Lu et al (2015) the self- service mobile technologies helps the commuters to
access lot of data about cab services and such technologies had changed the role of both
customers and companies.

(Peng, Wang, He, Guo, & Lin, 2014). The adoption of call taxi app (CTA) is impacted
perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, subjective norms and perceived playfulness.

Chen (2014) had explained that mobile apps help both drivers and passengers to find each
other.
At present the mobile apps are helps the customers to find cabs.
(Rahman, 2014) In the recent years the car rental industry is growing constantly especially in
metropolitan cities in India.

(Vaithianathan & Bolar, 2013). The Meru cabs had become more popular and the demand
for its cabs had exceeded that its supply which means technology had created huge demand
for organized cab industry. The factors like accessibility, reliability and transparency are
primary factors which have attracted customers towards branded cab services like Meru cabs.

Upadhyaya (2013) The customer feedback in cab services industry is very important for
attaining success in the competitive car rental industry. He had explained how Meri Cab
Company had collected feedback from its customers and enhanced its service quality for
sustaining in the business.
Mulley (2010) defends that shared taxi-schemes could be developed within a deregulated
environment to meet rural accessibility needs, in locations where the provision and quality of
bus based public transport remains erratic.
In Hong Kong, according to Transport Advisory Committee (2008), taxis are a mode of
transport frequently used by many overseas visitors. Therefore, they help to form Hong
Kong’s international image.

Lowitt (2006) observes that, as in this market taxis tend to operate on a nonshared basis and
their supply is limited by legislation, they can be a reasonable source of income for taxi
operators. This was, for example, the market she considered in her study with the urban areas
of Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban, all in South Africa. Lowitt (2006), however, the
demand for taxi services is highly heterogeneous and differs in developed and developing
countries. In developed countries, taxis tend to be used as a substitute for private vehicles by
passengers who use the service for convenience reasons or because they do not want to own a
car, even though they can afford it.

As heavy traffic volumes can make roads dangerous and difficult to cross, it is reported in
World Bank (2002), for instance, that businesspersons routinely take taxis in Jakarta just to
get safely to the other side of the busiest thoroughfares
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The following are some of the proposed research objectives of the study:

 To assess the marketing potential of radio taxi and app based passenger transportation
system in metro cities.
 To identify key factors which influence the successful implementation of radio taxi
and app based model in India.
 To understand the impact of driver behaviour on market of radio taxi or app based
passenger transportation

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This study is descriptive in nature and mainly utilizes qualitative approach. It will be
necessary to conduct detailed review on available literature related to radio taxi especially
app-based passenger transportation services across world. Primarily questionnaire based
survey method will be used to collect data from drivers and passengers. Questionnaire and
surveys will be designed to measure perception.
The primary data is collected through structured questionnaire and secondary data is gathered
through journals, magazines and reliable websites etc.
The simple random sampling methodology is used for collected primary data. The
respondents for this study should have consumed cab services in the last six months and they
should have booked the cab through mobile app in their smart phones.

Number of respondents: 100

Sample area: Delhi/ NCR

ANALYSIS

OPPORTUNITY AREAS

(i) Transportation related expenses: On an average 3-5% of total income is spent on public
transport facilities. People are also getting conscious about their comfort which also works in
favor of taxi cab market.

(ii) Lack of Public Transport Facilities: Public transport facilities are not sufficient at many
places. Moreover luxurious and comfortable transportation facilities are hardly available.
Many consumers are ready to pay higher for the comfort which is a booster for radio taxi
market.

(iii) Influx of Tourist: Number of foreign visitors in India is growing resulting in increasing
demand and demand rose at the Airport.

(iv) Demand from Corporate Sector: Existing and upcoming industrial hubs and corporate
parks on the outskirts of metro and tier-1 cities such are creating significant growth
opportunities for radio taxi operators. Moreover, young working class, in particular, opts for
radio taxis due to enhanced convenience and safety. The IT &ITES industry is concerned
about pick up and drop facility for which they require a constant supply of cabs at their
disposal.

(v) Change in Consumer Mindset: Customers are increasingly shifting from traditional
black & yellow taxis ( which are aging) to modern Radio Taxis equipped with AC, GPS,
24×7 customer support, electronic fare meter and other tangible and intangible features.
(vi) Market Statistics: The fleet size of radio cabs, mainly concentrated in four Indian
metros, 3 was about 15,000 in 2011-12. With demand far outstripping supply, the total
number of radio cabs was expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of
25 percent.

(vii) Price rise of passenger vehicles: The increase in the fare of other passenger vehicles ie;
Auto, conventional taxis or even Bus or Metro in bigger cities are increasing the popularity of
App- Based Taxis and their innovative pool services.

(viii) Decline in the fleet size of non-radio taxis due to ageing cabs: High Court has
ordered for removing more than 25 years old Cabs form city roads of Mumbai resulting in
huge demand and scope for radio taxis.

CHALLENGES AND PROBLEM AREAS

(i) Safety & Security: In spite of many marketing commitments from different operators,
still the safety and security of passengers is a big challenge to be fulfilled.

(ii) Less remuneration to drivers as compared to App based taxis: Cab drivers whose
incomes had dwindled due to the widespread ban on taxi aggregators in Delhi were also
unwilling to join radio taxi companies that cannot match the compensation offered by the
venture-funded taxi app firms. The internet companies transfer money in a week and even
give incentive per trip.

(iii) Finding the correct Drivers: It is becoming extremely challenging for radio taxi
operators to equal the growing need of drivers because of mounting competition due to rising
demand of taxi cabs. Comparatively less remuneration to drivers and compulsory police
verification of drivers makes this task even harder. Shortage of suitable and educated drivers,
high cab maintenance costs and varying government regulations in every state also hindered
growth.

(iv) Legal boundaries getting tougher: The legal boundaries are also getting tougher for
taxi services due to Uber and similar case of Delhi. Local agitations by different taxi unions
are also hindrances. The radio cab industry was highly regulated and government regulations
were state specific. Red tape, the ceiling on the number of permits that could be held by a
radio cab operator, stringent criteria for qualifying to become a radio cab driver, restrictions
on size of the radio cab and government regulations regarding fares, were some of the
negatives of the regulatory environment in which the radio cab industry operated. Factors
such as these contributed to the sub-optimal supply of radio cabs, resulting in high rates of
denial of service

(v) Insufficient supply to match growing demand: 30-50% revenue of radio taxi market
comes from airport transfers. Still the availability of cabs to fulfill this demand is not
sufficient.
(vi) High fares of Online Cab Services & Surge prices in morning hours : The demand
supply mechanism also results in surge of prices in morning office hours especially during
morning is also increasing the unhappiness among customers.

SWOT ANALYSIS

1. OLA

A). Strengths

 Grabbed the First mover advantage as a taxi aggregator in India

 Acquired Taxi For Sure which made it No. 1 in India
 High awareness among public due to aggressive TV, online and print media
marketing techniques.
 Huge customer base & due to network effect it is increasing
 Rapidly expanding and online application
 Multiple rounds of venture capital investments have made the brand financially strong

B). Weaknesses

 Drivers are the face of the company and hence their misbehavior directly affects its
brand image
 Monetization is very difficult as the demand is huge, amount of cash burning is huge

C). Opportunities

 Potential is high as Unorganized market is huge (~90%)

 Increasing internet penetration &Smartphone users
 Rising disposable income of the people
 Huge demands as the customers look for more and more convenience in terms of
hassle free drive and no
 tension of finding parking.
  Acquisition of smaller players in the market.

D). Threats

 New competitors entering the market.

 Uber has deep pocket and hence can burn cash heavily
 Presence of many national players in the market
 Future is unclear due to lack of government regulations in developing countries.

2. UBER
A). Strengths

 well-recognized brand
 Unlimited fleet of vehicles available. Regular Taxi service regulations are not
applicable for Uber.
 Operational cost is quite low. As it relies on customer-to-driver interaction, a
dispatcher is not needed.
 Very little competition.
 Dual rating system boosts safety and trust.
 Convenient system for the drivers. They can work for flexible hours and can even
choose to be a part-time employee. Drivers can also reject unwanted clients.
 Lower prices as compared to traditional taxi operators.
 High valuation of Uber encourages many people to invest in it.

B). Weaknesses

 Easily imitable ides. Nothing will prevent competition from presenting the same
product/service.
  Ethically questionable between Uber and the drivers. It is expected that loyalty between
Uber and its drivers is quite low as it lacks real connection.

 Uber and its customers have no bonding. Incentive remaining with Uber is low.
 Cost of operating vehicles is very high. But, the drivers do not earn much.
 There are privacy concerns. Uber records where customer gets the taxi from and
where he goes with it.

C). Opportunities

 Customers are often dissatisfied with traditional cab companies because of their high
prices and long waiting time and hence can exploit new and big markets in countries
like India.

 Can tap growing markets in suburban areas where taxi services are not available.
 Estimated Time of Arrival can be reduced with rise in the number of Uber drivers
which in turn will make Uber more liked by the customers and hence, the startup will
get more revenue and drivers will also be profited.
 Cheaper electric cars can be used which will reduce the cost and increase the driver‟s
profit margin.

D). Threats

 Low-profit margins causes dissatisfaction among the drivers. This might lead to bad
publicity, which can in turn discourage the new drivers from joining Uber.
 Increasing competition will ultimately decrease prices. This will discourage drivers
from joining the startup in new markets, resulting in loss of customers. Ultimately,
Uber‟s revenues will decline.
 As new markets and drivers are joining, fraud and scandals are also increasing. It‟s
damaging for the brand.
 Self-driving cars, e.g. Google Cars, can probably eliminate the need for Uber.
AND THE VERDICT IS HERE:

A large number of people voting in favour of Uber’s service felt that their decision was
influenced by pricing (44 percent), with safety being a distant second (29 percent). A little
caveat here — the sample recorded only about 21 percent respondents as being female.

Punctuality, too, was a factor, trailing in with about 19 percent of respondents opting for it.
However, not many were fussy about the quality of the vehicle, which goes to show that
convenience provided a higher utility value than the optics of it.

WHAT DO THE CONSUMERS SAY?

“The reason I choose a cab is convenience. With a click or swipe the car comes to my
location and no questions asked. With Ola, the number of calls I need to make explaining my
location is simply annoying,” says a customer.
It isn’t just the number of calls the consumers dislike — it is also the fact that the driver
behaviour just doesn’t make the cut. From cancelling after discovering the drop location to
downright rudeness, customers have seen it all from an Ola driver.
FROM THE HORSE’S MOUTH

Many drivers have commented that in order to ensure a larger market share and more drivers,
Ola’s on boarding threshold is lower. “Becoming a driver on Uber is more difficult because
they have some stringent quality checks, but anybody can be a driver on Ola,” says a driver
who is registered on both platforms.
Thus, the basic behavioural differences can be seen by the consumers. From following the
GPS to no calls to being on their best behaviour, Uber guarantees more.

AUTORICKSHAWS FALLING OUT OF FAVOUR?

At this point, you would think that while this vote of confidence is well and good, when push
really comes to shove, people would either take the good old autorickshaw or bring out their
own cars. Well, wrong.
For one, more than 60 percent of our respondents use either an Ola or an Uber more than two
to three times a week, and almost 60 percent have once again given a huge thumbs-up to
Uber.

In fact, the combined dependence on the ubiquitous autorickshaw and their own cars or other
taxis is only 20 percent — less than the 22 percent that voted for Ola as being their ride of
choice in a hurry.
Of course, this response could be skewed because we are speaking to an audience that is
already a very active user of cab aggregators. But brand-wise it is an important takeaway
nonetheless because this is how the core target audience perceives matters.
Moving on, no such survey is complete without asking respondents about some of their pet
peeves. The top one (54 percent respondents voted for this) was something that most of us
have faced one time or the other — drivers cancelling if the drop location doesn’t suit them.
Drivers not being able to use the GPS navigator was a close second (37 percent).
In fact, the GPS problem has its roots in two very fundamental issues: (1) the application
gives directions in English, which many drivers can’t follow, and (2) lack of proper training
in taking visual cues from the application. There is a third, which isn’t in the cab aggregators’
or drivers’ control — patchy internet coverage in many areas.
“It’s simply frustrating when a driver calls me asking for directions. And even after giving
the directions, they call back and ask what the drop location is and then ask you to cancel,”
says a IT professional.
Since pricing was such an important consideration, we also asked our respondents for their
opinion about the government intervening in fares. There was no real stand-out answer.
While 48 percent want the government to regulate tariff, a noteworthy 40 percent respondents
said, “Why fix it if it isn’t broken?” The rest didn’t really care as long as they got their daily
ride.
But when it came to handling the effects of demonetisation, both Ola and Uber were
supported by most respondents. While there have been cases of refusals, almost 82 percent of
respondents did not face any problems. Individually, though, Ola seems to have had a few
more cases of refusals than Uber.
“I remember booking an Ola a couple of weeks ago. Once the driver reached the location, he
called and asked me for the mode of payment. I said ‘Ola Money’ and he said, ‘Sorry sir.
Please cancel. I don’t believe in taking Ola Money, it just doesn’t reach us’,” says a 34-year-
old.
CONCLUSION

The business is booming in a huge way in India with versatile private operators both national
and international investing tremendous money in setting up the call centers, acquiring fleets
of new cars, and incorporating latest technologies in their vehicles. It has proved to be the
win-win situation for government, radio cab companies, chauffeurs and the most importantly
passengers. Change in the people’s mindset has been the greatest factor in the growth of radio
cab market. But there are certain other aspects which are acting as the obstacles in widening
the radio cab market such as high fares, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) caps
on the SMS and the unavailability of parking area. Radio taxi companies have to strike a
perfect balance between growth drivers and challenges to move ahead.

The war between Ola and Uber has always been a fierce one. By sheer volume of cars on the
roads, Ola has a significant lead over Uber. Ola also has over 75 percent of market share,
is spread over 100 cities, and has over nine different categories.

But quality-wise, Uber seems to be doing a better job in customer satisfaction. Of course,
this survey is by no means exhaustive and on many counts scientifically rudimentary, but it
certainly taps into the consumer sentiment.
India‟s major attractiveness lies in its market size and increased purchasing power resulting
in uplifting lifestyles. On the other hand Indian consumers are smart, very demanding and
highly price-sensitive with no brand loyalty; managing such market is not an easy task.
Companies need to constantly be on their toes and keep designing new packages and offers to
allure the customers for long which at times result in a lot of cash burn.
Therefore, it would not be that easy for both the companies Ola and Uber to operate in such
an environment. They have to optimize their costs at all levels; need to be more customer-
centric & target- oriented; highly innovative; resistant to pressure from the regulatory
authorities and above all keep delighting their customers as “customer is the king‟.
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