Jugnoo To Offer Auto Booking Service In Offline Mode; Files For Patent

In a bid to become internet-independent, Jugnoo has filed a patent that allows operations of its app in offline mode as well. Now users can book rides on the app in the absence of internet connectivity.

Samar Singla, Founder and CEO Jugnoo said, “In an era such as today, there are people who do not have access to internet or suffer connectivity issues in our country. Conventional methods of taxi or auto-rickshaw booking through mobile apps are dependent on the internet. Factoring in both the aspects, we felt there was a need to introduce a feature that enabled our users to avail the same service through the app, even in case of no internet access on their smartphones.”

The Chandigarh-based startup was founded in 2014 by Samar Singla and Chinmay Agarwal. With over a million downloads, Jugnoo offers its services in 35 cities and has  over 12,000 autos empanelled under the brand at present.

Jugnoo’s new feature works via SMS and in case of low or no internet access, Jugnoo users can book a ride from a list of saved geographic locations or from stored map on their smartphones. Users can also select their pick-up location on the cached map through manual selection.

Accordingly, a pre-structured SMS with location details will be prompted from the user’s phone. Jugnoo servers and third party services will decipher the information and automatically assign the nearest available ride to the customer.

The users will also have an option to cancel the booked ride in offline mode. Once the internet resumes, the ride details will be available on the Jugnoo app.

Last month, Jugnoo also forayed into B2B logistics segment with the launch of Dodo Deliveries, an omni-channel, on-demand, hyperlocal logistics service, enabling vendors to deliver products to their customers. Prior to this in May, the auto rickshaw aggregator re-started its hyperlocal delivery service ‘Fatafat.’

In April 2016, Jugnoo closed  $10 Mn in Series B funding round led by Paytm.