Covid 3rd wave takes a toll on bike-taxi biz

Hyderabad: Ever since the third wave of Covid-19 pandemic has peaked in India, the bike transport services are badly affected in metro cities, tier-1 and tier-2 cities. Bike-taxi services are currently offered by OlaBike, UberMoto and Rapido in the country. Of late, the earnings of two-wheeler-taxi drivers onthese platforms have sharply declined due to the rise in the number of Covid cases.

Apart from this, the bike-taxi drivers are facing a number of issues in the present scenario. Bengaluru-based startup Roppen Transportation Pvt Ltd ) calls its driving partners as captains. Md Hussain, a Rapido driver, said: "The business is completely down due to the third wave of Covid-19. While most of the IT employees are availing work-from-home (WFH) option, online classes are being held at the colleges and other institutions. This has resulted in lesser rides and low earnings for us."

Some Rapido drivers told Bizz Buzz that their daily incomes have decreased from Rs 1,200-1,500 to Rs 700-900." A youngster, Naveen from Nizamabad, who rides bike-taxi as a part time job to meet his expenses, claimed that the taxi aggregator takes away the major chunk of his earnings. "For a distance of 25 km, we earn an amount of Rs170, out of which Rs50-60 is taken by the company as commission. I am working hard and the ride-hailing app is looting us in the name of commissions," he said.

Preferring anonymity, another Rapido driver also expressed similar concerns saying, "among other bike-taxi aggregators available in the country, I prefer UberMoto as it allows me to earn in multiple ways. I work for two companies and switch the ride-hailing app platforms based on the availability of rides. This is a win-win situation for both the company and the driver".

The major problem expressed by the bike-taxi riders is the late-night rides, where they face several problems due to technical glitches and less payment after completion of rides. However, bike-taxis are gaining popularity among riders, as they are easy to use during traffic congestion, in narrow lanes and on poor roads across Indian cities.

According to business research & intelligence services firm PGA labs, Rapido is the largest player in the market with 50 per cent share, OlaBike has 25 per cent, UberMoto and other players own the rest.

According to it, the bike-taxi service is a $150 million market, growing at 20 per cent month-on-month with 50,000 service providers as captains and over 10 million customers. The growth has been attributed to the consumers' need for affordable means of transport.

Rapido has stretched its wings into auto-taxi, delivery services, marketing line and recently started a pilot programme for introducing e-vehicles. The platform is even facing some issues from the officials of Regional Transport Offices (RTOs), who made usage of bikes with white number plate for commercial purposes illegal in Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Assam, and Pune. This issue is pending at various courts in the country.