Carpooling is the flavour of the season. The established players in the cab hailing market Uber and Ola have launched their own versions, and a slew of carpooling apps have come up. Now the oldest cab-hailing service has jumped on the carpool bandwagon. Meru has launched its own ridesharing service. The pilot version of the project will be kicked off in Delhi-NCR.
The move comes just a day before the Delhi government’s odd-even diktat is set to enforced in the national capital. Customers opting for the feature will be entitled to a 30 per cent discount on the fixed fare irrespective of whether another rider joins the commune or not. The feature will only be available on the Meru owned cars – a fleet of around 1500 CNG vehicles in Delhi initially, Siddhartha Pahwa, group CEO Meru Cabs told ET.
“Pollution and congestion are two major issues plaguing citizens of Delhi. We believe that the situation can be resolved through collaborative efforts by the government, private transport operators like Meru and citizens,” he added.
Meru’s 30% fare reduction for customers who choose to rideshare is comparable to the discounts offered by other competitors. Ola is offering a 50% discount on Ola Share fares over the coming month, Uber is promising a reduction in fares anywhere between 30-40 per cent.