Radio taxi service provider Meru Cabs on Wednesday launched its short-distance city service under the brand name, Genie, in Hyderabad, with plans to expand it to other cities in the next few months.

The new product is a 24x7 air-conditioned cab service for regular city travel, costing Rs 16 per km and picking up passengers from the door-step.

“We launched the brand here with a fleet of 50 vehicles. We plan to ramp it up to 500 in the next six to nine months. These cars will be primarily driver-owned and we will be facilitating the purchase and providing training to the drivers,” Siddhartha Pahwa, CEO, told media persons here.

The service was launched by Tollywood actor Charmme Kaur.

“This will now solve problems such as tampered meters, refusal by drivers to go to particular destinations, haggling for fare and bad customer service that are often encountered while dealing with regular taxis,” Charmee said.

India-centric private equity fund, India Value Fund, is the largest shareholder in the company with an investment of Rs 170 crore. It currently carries about one million passengers across the 10 cities it operates, including Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, every month, with a share of about 40 per cent in the domestic radio taxi service market. Its current fleet strength is about 6000 cabs.

“We will help the drivers get finance and ensure that they retire their loan in three years. After the loan is retired, our drivers generally earn Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 a month. We ensure a minimum take home of Rs 15,000 for our drivers,” Pahwa said.

The firm, which notched up revenues of Rs 400 crore last fiscal, expects a 20 per cent growth in the current fiscal.

amitmitra@thehindu.co.in

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