Ranchi: Having made its presence felt in top cities of Jharkhand since its entry last year, the cab aggregator has now silently introduced auto service in select parts of Jharkhand state capital, providing heckle-free ride for budget commuters.
So if one has to go somewhere in the city but doesn’t want to haggle with auto drivers, one can get the Ola app and book an auto from his or her smartphone and get a doorstep pickup within minutes.
Even though commuters are promised convenience, the online transportation network company’s latest move is likely to witness stiff opposition from diesel and petrol auto associations in coming days in Ranchi, The Telegraph reported.
When contacted on its helpline number (0561-33553355), Ola officials maintained that the app-aided autos debuted in Ranchi yesterday along with around 10 other cities namely Coimbatore, Surat, Bhopal and Nagpur among others – all tier-II and tier-III towns where three-wheelers are still the most preferred mode of public transport.
A marketing official at Ola’s Ranchi office claimed that the service was currently available only in Morabadi and Booty More-Kokar stretch. “So far, some 10-15 autos have enrolled with this service. We have silently started but will roll it out in a big way once we add more autos,” he said.
Elaborating on the rates, a lady executive, unwilling to be named, said: “There will be a minimum charge of Rs 20 for availing the service. After this, Rs 12/km will be charged, besides an additional Rs 10 as convenience charge. Night charges will be applicable from 10pm to 6am, and the fare will be 1.25 times of the normal rate. Similar to the cabs, one can book our autos only through the Ola apps,” she said.
This correspondent also sent a e-mail to Ola’s corporate office for official comments, but a reply was awaited till the time of filing of this report.
Further, officials at the Ola’s Ranchi office maintained that their policy of enrolling autos were quite similar to the one used for cabs. “All autos registered with us should be genuine, should have proper permits to run in a particular city, and should be in good condition, irrespective of diesel and petrol variants. However, we are mostly eyeing petrol variants,” said an official.
Roughly, 10,000-12,000 autos ply in the capital, of which only around 2,300 have valid permits.
Diesel and petrol auto associations looked upset with the development, accusing Ranchi district administration for doing precious little for auto drivers.
Dinesh Soni, president of Jharkhand Diesel Auto Chalak Sangh, said the move would cause chaos in the city. “The Ola autos are costly,” he said.
Tabrez Ahmed, general secretary of Petrol Auto Chalak Sangh, Ranchi, said that government did nothing to improve prepaid auto system, which started at Ranchi and Hatia railway stations a couple of years ago. “So much funds were spent for prepaid auto system but administration’s callousness allowed it to die,” he said.
Regional transport authority, Ranchi, secretary Rajesh Barwar expressed ignorance about the introduction of the new service. “You are the first one to inform me. I hope they are following proper rules. I will look into it,” he said.