Delhi NCR-based BluSmart ruffled quite a few feathers with its Ola, Uber-like Rush Hour pricing
“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” – The Dark Knight (2008)“BluSmart has introduced an industry-first fixed pricing structure for different times of the day for a transparent pricing future. Our new pricing policy ensures that our customers pay what they see on the app, maintaining fairness and consistency,” cofounder Anmol Singh Jaggi told Inc42.“Our Driver Partners compensation is competitive, and we undergo regular benchmarking exercises to ensure they are compensated well for their work. Our current driver partner earnings are a 50:50 between incentive component and fixed pay,” Jaggi clarified.“The $250 Mn round couldn’t close due to differences in the terms between the current and incoming shareholders. It was to come in Q3 FY23, despite that not happening with the fundraise the company has achieved fantastic growth. We have grown from 2,000 cars in Q3FY23 to close to 6,000 in Q3FY24,” the BluSmart cofounder revealed.“Surge fees worked for Ola and Uber because there really weren’t many alternatives around at that time that could compete with them. BluSmart does not have this luxury, and it needs to open the revenue tap, especially if it hasn’t been able to raise funding to grow and expand,” says one mobility-focussed investor.“The GTV has increased by 7X and our loss increased only by close to 2X. Thus, with large scale, BluSmart was able to achieve higher utilisation and bring down its losses. Within the first 6 months of FY24, we have already surpassed the entire GTV that we did in FY23,“ he added.
That’s the sentiment of many BluSmart customers this week, as the EV cab-hailing startup introduced what it describes as ‘Rush Hour pricing’. Naturally, now many are asking how BluSmart is different from Ola or Uber, the duopoly that it was touted to break.