Online cab players in 2016 completed nearly half a billion rides with 250% y-o-y growth in India

2016 was a challenging year for the online cab aggregator industry from an external perspective, with multiple regulatory challenges and labor issues.

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However, consistently growing demand from customers enabled the industry to tackle all these challenges successfully and emerge successful at the end of the year compared to the beginning, by delivering 500 Mn rides in 2016, up from 130 Mn in 2015 registering a staggering 250% year-on-year growth in the country, according to Redseer Consulting.

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Other factors that played a big role in the growth of this industry were:

1) The industry experienced a 9% month-on-month average growth in the year 2016

2) The customer adoption increased with cheaper options like the ride at INR 6/km and share rides driving up customer adoption.
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3) Demonetization did not affect the industry much and drove up non-cash transactions by 20%

4) Options like Rentals and Outstation Taxi add to the online cab aggregators’ portfolio
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5) States putting a blanket ban on surge pricing affected payouts to drivers and operations which was the only downside to the growth streak.