Radio cab service Meru on Monday (23 November) announced a partnership with the air-conditioned ‘no refusal’ taxis of Kolkata. Bookings to avail of these cabs will be through the Meru cabs app (application).
“Convenience and connectivity have been key challenges for commuters in Kolkata. By adding the large supply of the city's local taxis to its platform Meru will enable customers utilize local taxis and travel with ease. Backed by its robust technology, Meru endeavors to provide a wide array of travel services to its customers all across India,” said Siddhartha Pahwa, CEO, Meru Cabs.
‘No refusal’ taxis that are coloured blue-and-white, are a different set of cabs that ply in the city apart from the regular ‘black-and-yellow’ ones. No refusal cabs are mostly sedans. They follow fares laid down by the State Transport department.
Meru will provide AC City Taxis access and will enable bookings through the Meru Cabs App by the consumers. Kolkata’s local taxis using Meru’s platform will follow state regulated fares and customers will be charged a nominal convenience fee of Rs 20 to be paid over the fare displayed on the meter.
The advantages cited for this tie-up will be that these local city taxis will come to passenger pick up point for this nominal convenience charge. Customers will have access to Meru’s cab features like ‘Trip Tracker’ and ‘ICE’ (In Case of Emergency), especially for the safety of women passengers.
Through this partnership, Meru’s customers will be able to access Kolkata’s large pool of local taxis.
Driver training programmes – where knowledge on customer service and etiquettes and use of technology – will also be taken by the radio cab service provider.
Meru recently entered into a global alliance with Europe based eCabs to provide access to taxi across seven countries as well as commenced car pool services in India. Meru has been established in 23 cities with a fleet of over 20,000 cars.
