Early summer brings cheer to cab biz in city

HYDERABAD: The sudden surge in temperatures in the city has fuelled the local cab business with many now ditching the three-wheeler to travel by an air-conditioned taxi instead – even for short distances of 5 to10 kms. Confessing to this northward trend, private cab operators say that their returns have almost doubled of late, courtesy an early summer.
Rough estimates suggest, that Hyderabad has more than 45,000 cabs and 20,000 auto-rickshaws. But with Met officials predicting the mercury levels to touch 40 degree Celsius soon, the modest autos clearly seem to be losing out to the ‘cooler’ four-wheelers. “The number of bookings per day has doubled already. Currently, we have about 4,000 bookings per day. We expect them to go up to 10,000 by May-end,” said Suraj Nair, head of operations for Taxi for Sure.
And while trips to railway stations and the Shamshabad airport continue to comprise a chunk of this business, operators claim that an increasing number of people are opting for their services even for inter-city travel. “The distance between my office and residence is hardly 4 kms. Auto drivers don’t run by meter and the ride eventually turns out to be very expensive. Therefore, booking a cab is more convenient. Especially at this time of the year when the heat is extremely unbearable,” said Shikha Yadav, an IT employee,.
It is evident that cab operators are cashing in on this steep rise in demand. “We offer better services for the money charged. Although our price is higher than other players in the market, with rising temperatures, people don’t mind spending more money to travel in luxury,” said Mateen Hussain, managing director of Dot Cabs that charges between Rs 15 and 24 per kilometre. The company claims to be attracting almost 1,500 bookings per day this season.
“With soaring temperatures, one cannot bear the soaring price of auto-rickshaws as well. Therefore, cabs definitely come up as a great option for commuting,” said Uttara Varma, a content writer.