Bengaluru Gets Another Union-Backed Autorickshaw App After Namma Yatri

Following the success of Namma Yatri, Bengaluru’s another transport union is set to roll out an auto rickshaw ride booking app in partnership with Agnibhu Technologies.

Karnataka Rajya Chalakara Parishath (Karnataka State Driver’s Council) will launch the ‘Nagara Metered Auto’ app today afternoon and it will be available on the Google Play Store, Moneycontrol reported.

The report added, according to the union, users can book rides through the app but pay only government-fixed fares – INR 30 for the first 2 km and INR 15 for every subsequent km – as displayed on the meter.

A union member K Somashekar told Moneycontrol that the new app would serve as an alternative to Ola, Uber and Rapido.

“This new app will be a win-win situation for both passengers and drivers. In many cases, drivers don’t receive the correct fare even if a longer distance is covered. Now, most people prefer to book autos through an app,” he added.

“Drivers can fulfill passenger requests made through multiple channels like — on the street, website, WhatsApp and eventually through several ONDC buyer applications,” an Agnibhu Technologies’ spokesperson said.

Earlier in January, Agnibhu collaborated with eSamudaay to launch a ride-hailing feature in its app called ‘eSamudaay Ride’.

It is active in three Tier II cities namely, Udupi, Ballari and Thanjavur, where people can make reliable autorickshaw bookings and it is looking to widen with bike taxis too.

In April, ride-hailing application Namma Yatri debuted its cab-hailing services in its home city Bengaluru. Apart from Bengaluru, Namma Yatri also offers cab aggregator services in Kochi, Kolkata and Chennai.

Overall, the Namma Yatri family of applications claimed to have more than 2.1 Lakh drivers, 50 Lakh customers, and has successfully completed 2.7 Cr+ trips as of March 2024. It claims to be already a prominent player in seven cities, including Bengaluru, Mysuru, Hyderabad and Kolkata.